The Path I Continue to Walk
by JDH1080
Summary: It's been ten years since we were separated, but darkness draws near the worlds cry for help, its time for the people of the Keyblade to stand up and defend the worlds its time for a reunion. Sequal to The Path I Choose. Terra X Aqua.
1. Darkness returns

Well here it is, I said I was going to post this up on Friday but here's a small little deal, I'm going to post this up today (no duh) and if I can get say close to five reviews before Friday at 9:00PM then I will post the second chapter up on Friday, if not Chapter two will not be seen until the Friday afterwards,

Anyway on another note, here is the first chapter; I'm not sure how this story will go. I hope it will be as well liked or more so than the first. So far from what I've written I think this will be a good story, but we'll see, so review and let me know, now enough of my rambling, here it is, The Path I Continue to Walk, enjoy

* * *

The Path I Continue To Walk

Chapter One: Darkness Returns.

_Miageta yozora no hoshitachi no hikari  
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_Mukashi no omoi negai ga jidai wo koe iro aseru koto naku todoku  
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_Kirari hitomi ni utsuru dare ka no sakebi kaze ni omoi wo  
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_Tsuki ni negai wo chikara aru kagiri ikiteku n da kyou mo  
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_Bokura no omoi mo itsu ka dare ka no mune ni  
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_Hikari tsuzukeyou ano hoshi no yoru ni _

_Hitotsu futatsu kane no oto wa hibiku kokoro no naka e to hiroku fukaku  
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_Monogatari no you na hoshi no shizuku sono naka ni hosoi senrou wo kizuku  
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_Jikan to tomo ni jidai wa ugoku nagareru hoshi wa shizuka ni ugoku  
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_Me wo tojite mimi wo sumaseba GOOD BYE  
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_Oozora ippai no shirokuro shashin nabiku mafuraa shiroi iki  
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_Sukoshi demo chikazukitakute ano takadai made kakeashi de  
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_Omotai bouenkyou tori dasu to  
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_Renzu wa madashita sutaa dasuto  
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_Jikan wo ubawareta jikan jidai wo kazoete kuru roman _

_Hanate hikari makezu ni shikkari ima toki wo kazoe  
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_Dare ka ni todoku made eikou no hikari wa kono mukou ni kimi tachi to  
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_Tsukutte iku sutoorii _

_Miageta yozora no hoshitachi no hikari  
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_Mukashi no omoi negai ga jidai wo koe iro aseru koto naku todoku  
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_Kirari hitomi ni utsuru dare ka no sakebi kaze ni omoi wo  
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_Tsuki ni negai wo chikara aru kagiri ikiteku n da kyou mo  
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_Bokura no omoi mo itsu ka dare ka no mune ni  
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_Hikari tsuzukeyou ano hoshi no yoru ni  
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_Ubugoe ageta chiisa na hikari ooki na hikari  
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_Jikuu wo koe deai  
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_Subete no kagayaki ga hitotsu to nari tsukuri dasu monogatari  
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_Ten to ten wo musubu seiza no you ni dare ka ni totte  
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_Bokura mo kirei na e egaketetara ii ne  
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_Miagete goran yo hora fuyu no daiyamondo  
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_Yuruyaka na ama no gawa sugu yuuki tori modoseru kara  
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_Hate hikari makezu ni shikkari ima  
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_Toki wo kazoe dare ka ni todoku made  
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_Eikou no hikari wa kono mukou ni  
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_Kimi tachi to tsukutte iku sutoorii  
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_Miageta yozora no hoshitachi no hikari  
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_Mukashi no omoi negai ga jidai wo koe iro aseru koto naku todoku  
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_Kirari hitomi ni utsuru dare ka no sakebi kaze ni omoi wo  
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_Tsuki ni negai wo chikara aru kagiri ikiteku n da kyou mo  
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_Bokura no omoi mo itsu ka dare ka no mune ni  
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_Hikari tsuzukeyou ano hoshi no yoru ni _

_Kono sora wa hitotsu doko made mo hiroku sou  
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_Umi no mukou ima umareru ibuki taetareru inochi  
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_Hoshi wa terasu megami no gotoku  
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_Nagaku tsuzuku kuri kaesu shunkashuutou no  
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_Isshun demo ii sukoshi de ii omoi wo kizamu  
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_Tada hatenaku toki wo kazoe kagayaki dasu  
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_Monogatari wa kokoro no naka de tsuzuite iru  
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_Ano hi no kimi wa itsu ka yogisha ni notte  
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_Miageta yozora no hoshitachi no hikari  
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_Mukashi no omoi negai ga jidai wo koe iro aseru koto naku todoku  
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_Kirari hitomi ni utsuru dare ka no sakebi kaze ni omoi wo  
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_Tsuki ni negai wo chikara aru kagiri ikiteku n da kyou mo  
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_Bokura no omoi mo itsu ka dare ka no mune ni  
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_Hikari tsuzukeyou ano hoshi no yoru ni _

_Hikari tsuzukeyou ano hoshi no yoru ni_

* * *

Ten years. It's been ten years since I came to this small island. In that time I had taken my duty as a Keyblade Master to heart. I had spent my time training my two apprentices, Sora, and Riku. I also helped look after Kairi. I've only recently discovered what the light in her heart means. A princess of heart, who would have thought? I have made sure to keep a close eye on her as well, for darkness is lurking everywhere in all the worlds.

I don't know what has been happening in the other worlds for the past ten years. But I do feel something is off. And I can't for the life of me figure it out. The temptation to use this world's door has always been hard to resist. If I were to use it, I could find out what is happening, and I would have the pleasure of being able to see Aqua and Ven again. but that would be selfish. I can't abandon Riku and Sora. Over these past ten years, I've come to see them as my own kids. 'Those kids are learning.' I thought to myself with a little pride.

That's another thing. With all this, whole finally becoming a Master thing, I had really become a bit prideful of my students. I actually was in all honesty terrified of being their teacher at first. I mean sure I was able to ask their parents to allow me to train them. But if anything for the most part the lessons, at first, I just pulled off the top of my head. Of course though some of the books I salvaged from the Land of Departure really helped a bit.

With a sigh I walked to the boat that I would have to row to get to the island. I swear it takes forever. Times like this I wish I had my Keyblade-Rider. Oh well, I've kinda become pretty attached to my Master's old Master Keeper Keyblade.

* * *

After a long boat ride to the island, I finally arrived to my destination. Walking toward the edge of the other side I saw Sora. Today the lesson would be just us. Sora was ready for the Dive. I can sense it. His heart is emitting a dim light. That light is just begging to be released. Today he would finally experience the dive. There is something that concerns me. Riku, he has yet to experience the dive. I don't know why that is. It's almost like something is blocking his heart.

"Sora, are you ready?" I asked the brown, spiky hared boy. Said person was seated, legs crossed. He had little to no idea as to how the Dive would work, for I hadn't completely explained it to him. I had done a similar 'ceremony' for him, as I had done for Riku nearly a decade ago.

"Yes, Master I am read any time." He said then his world went black, for I had knocked him out.

"Sweet dreams, Sora." I said softly as I walked out of open sight, opting to sit on a tree branch.

I didn't want to do that to Sora, but it would take too long for him to enter. This is much quicker. I wondered how Sora would deal with his awakening. I remembered that during my awakening I choose the sword. I was curious if he would choose the sword as well; or would he go for the power of the mage and choose the staff. I remember that Aqua told me that she chose the staff. That explains why she was always so gifted in magic. And why she always kicked my ass when ever Master Eraqus had us spar using only magic. 'Darn you Eraqus…' he had only done that so I wouldn't get so big headed. 'By getting my ass handed to me by a girl, which prevented my ego from getting the chance to grow too big.' What can I say besides that the man was a genius…and a sadist.

That's another thing I wasn't too fond of. My abilities in magic were quite limited. If Aqua was here she could teach Sora and Riku to do things with magic I couldn't even dream of. 'Aqua…' I thought sadly as I clutched the blue Wayfinder I ware around my neck, and I remembered our last moments. Shaking my head as I fought the blush that was slowly creeping up to my cheeks.

Or maybe the shield would be Sora's choice, though I wondered how he could ever hope to fight the creatures inside his psyche with nothing but a shield. I closed my eyes with that hope that I would be able to take a little nap. Before I could drifted into the black oblivion of sleep a powerful light exploded from Sora's heart. He had chosen. 'And so a new Keybearer is born.' I thought with a smile.

* * *

Walking back to the where I had left my pupil I saw that he had woken up to a sight that I knew that he enjoyed; the pretty face of his affections, Kairi. I heard the redheaded girl giggle as she called Sora a lazy bum for sleeping on the job. Though it seems Riku wasn't too happy with the two of them, I noted as he appeared on set. From the part of the conversation I was able to pick up it seems that these three are building a raft, or should I say Riku is building the raft. 'So they want to see outside worlds?' well they were going about it the wrong way. That raft would never get them far.

"So this is what you two have been working on, instead of training." I teased my apprentices as I made slow calculated steps towards them. I took pleasure in seeing them jump up slightly at the sound of my voice.

"Haha, well consider it as an after school project…" Sora said while nervously scratching his head. I watched as Riku Faced-Palmed at his friend's lame way with words.

Then I felt a cold shiver go up my spine. 'What is that?' I questioned almost afraid, I had felt this before. 'It's darkness, the scent of darkness.' I concluded looking at my sliver haired apprentice. I mentally shook my head. 'No, it's just me being paranoid as usual.' I convinced myself, for this wasn't the first time that I thought that I was sensing darkness from one of my apprantices. For some reason I always had this nagging fear that one day what I did to Master Eraqus is going to bite me, and that one of my apprantices will turn their blade on me like I did to Eraqus.

"Sora, there's no point in trying to cover up the truth, our Master is not an idiot." Riku stated calm and somewhat mature way. "Master Terra the reason for the raft is because the three of us decided that we wanted to travel the worlds, you've spoken of." My sliver haired apprentice explained.

"You know that all you need to do is wait for your Keyblade to call out to your heart. Then you would be able to go about the worlds." With limitations I didn't add verbally.

"And just tell me when will that happen?" My sliver haired apprentice snapped annoyed. I felt it again. Is it possible that Riku Is going dark? Looking at him I could see that he was frustrated. If I had to guess he was tired of waiting for his Keyblade. Nothing I can do about it. The Keyblade chooses to call, not the other way around.

I fixed my oldest apprentice with a stern look. "That's enough, Riku." I said firmly. I saw his look falter for a moment. The boy bowed his head slightly. I didn't see it. But he was scowling at the time and his eyes had narrowed.

"I'm sorry Master Terra."

After the little conflict on the beach I told the kids that I would be heading back to the mainland, and reminded them not to take too long to go home. I didn't know that today would be the last time, for a long time, that I would be able to see the beautiful waves of the ocean during the sunset. If I had known that I would have stayed a bit longer to drink in the sight of the sun disappearing, similar to the view I use to have in Twilight Town. Only in Destiny Islands, it was in my opinion much more beautiful.

* * *

Hours later the land was dark, it reminded me of The Land of Departure when Xehanort destroyed it. I quickly made my way from my home to the docks. The wind blew my brown spiky hair back; I had to squint just to see. I noted debris flying in the air. And I just knew that I needed to move quickly.

Upon getting to the islands I was attacked by horde of rampaging pure blooded Heartless. I hadn't fought any Heartless since my awakening, and these monsters weren't as tough as the Unverse, though they were in greater numbers. I had been fighting them for only a few moments and already I was getting a bit worn. 'Damn it, I've been out of action for too long.' I thought as I slashed a simple Shadow Heartless in half.

At first what appeared to be a storm was actually a storm of Heartless. These foul creatures I have never fought before unless you count the awakening; were quite annoying. I still had yet to locate my apprentices, and I was starting to get a bit worried even though I could sense their hearts on this island and that they seemed to be unharmed.

I saw even more shadows appear, these shadows were even bigger, and had longer limbs, and antennas. These ones seemed a bit above par with the rift raft I had been dealing with. "Come on, enough already!" I shouted in annoyance as I unleashed a Dark Firaga into the face, of the taller, and more muscle infested Shadow. I had probably killed about five or so before they disappeared. Then I felt two auras nearby. Hoping to find my apprentices I rushed to the source. The scene I came upon was not a very normal one.

"The door is open. I'm not afraid of the darkness!" the voices I heard were of Riku and Sora.

"What?" My younger apprentices asked his best friend. The sliver haired boy in questioned was standing in front of Sora, hand extended out, and he was also emitting a dark aura.

"Sora! Riku!" I shouted as I ran to my apprentices, and then just before their hands met. A bright light filled the world.

In front of me the dark creatures were gone. Instead Sora stood, he wielded a Keyblade, said Keyblade was very simple in make. The Keyblade was basically a simple Key. The blade was sliver, while the guard was gold, at the end of the Keyblade was a sliver Keychain, which looked like a mouse head.

* * *

I didn't even think as my body went into auto-pilot. I just started to attack the shadows. They were fierce, and in great numbers. I saw a black shadow jump up at my apprentice; apparently he had a blind spot, so I covered for him. My Keyblade rested on his shoulder after the creature had dissolved. Seconds later Sora returned the favor as he jumped over me, all the while slashing two shadows right behind me. The two of us were completely surrounded. Hope was not last though, even if things looked bleak, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

I charged up an energy ball of light from the tip of Eraqus' Keyblade, and fired at the incoming shadows. "Sora, head to the secret place!" I commanded my apprentice. "I think you might find Kairi there." I informed him in afterthought. He looked a little hesitant, but nodded after a second, leaving me alone with the shadows; I then active Dark Impulse. The dark aura overtook my body, and I was a blur. Cutting through all the Heartless, they couldn't even touch me. I sliced and diced, and preformed a few other tricks I had up my sleeve.

Once all the shadows were destroyed I surveyed my handy work and smiled to myself, satisfied that I still had it. Walking toward the cave, I felt an intense killing intent. Upon looking behind me I saw the source of this malice presence. A Darkside, a very powerful Heartless that usually forms around a mass infusion of Heartless. That is the information that I had picked up from the few volumes I had salvaged from Eraqus' library of the ruined castle.

"No time!" I said as my Master's Keyblade started to glow a bright, pinkish color. I had entered Blade Charge. Jumping up I sliced at the monster, whom caught my blade. With a shout I fired off a Dark Firaga in its face. the monster howled in pain, but refused to let go. The ground shot up with my assistance, and the monster let me go. The moment I landed I dashed forward and sliced at the monster's legs, with my charged up blade. The Darkside fell to the ground, unable to move. I made sure it didn't get the chance for I slammed my blade into the head of the monster, causing it to evaporate into nothingness.

A little tired I fell to the floor on one knee, panting. It's been a while since I had an actual fight. I mused to myself. 'It's not over yet…' I thought grimly as I stood back to my feet.

"Where did they come from?" I asked myself. I had never seen Heartless outside of my sanctuary. I know that there have been some scattered around the worlds. 'Why now of all times?' I asked myself annoyed. Why is it that they are attacking? Is it possible that they are following orders? No that's impossible. Heartless go by instinct. Heartless are not smart enough to fight in groups like this. But still it is rather odd that they choose to do so.

No I don't have time for this. I need to get to Sora. Who knows how long he'll be able to last with those monsters around. For all we know there could be someone even more dangerous lurking about. Walking in the direction of the cave where I had ordered Sora to go, I dismissed Eraqus' Keyblade.

* * *

Walking into the cave I saw Sora standing alone. Just as I was about to gain his attention I heard a voice say. "Sora…" it was Kairi. Then said redheaded girl went flying into Sora, who tried to catch her. Unexpectedly Kairi went though Sora instead. A gush of wind started to push us back. My brown haired apprentice flew back into me. I caught him and tried to keep us stationed with my Keyblade, that I had summoned seconds ago. This worked for a few seconds. unfortunately we still got swept up by the howling winds taking us to god knows where.

As I flew away I thought about many things, my apprentice and I. would we be okay. Where were we going? Then I thought about my other apprentice, Riku. What happened to him? Did he fall into darkness like I did? Did he cause the destruction of his home like I had done many years ago? I hoped not, but things weren't looking good. I thought of the redheaded girl, Kairi. What happened to her? Is she alright? Will we see her again? I honestly don't know anymore. I guess I don't have all the answers anymore. The last thing I saw before I faded was Aqua's bright smile, while she held three Wayfinders. It was a fond memory, which I held close to my heart, which was almost as fond as the memory of her lips upon mine. I faded to back, into a peaceful dream. In this particular dream I was a Keyblade Master. Ven and Aqua were also Keyblade Masters and Eraqus was alive. We were still in the Land of Departure. We were happy. It was a dream that I was sure that could never become reality.

"It begins." A familiar and comforting voice said at the same time as a deep and disturbingly familiar voice that sent shivers down my spine said to me as the dark embrace of sleep finally and completely took over.

* * *

So…good, bad? You decide.


	2. A new journey begins

Well I would like to thank those who reviewed my first chapter. It makes me happy that people like it so far. Anyway as promised for the five or more reviews here it is the second chapter come early, I'll admit that it's a bit short but well it's only more of a prologue then anything. Anyway enough or my blabbering, here is the chapter.

* * *

The Path I Continue to Walk:

_The light of the stars in the sky that I looked up to  
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_Old memories and wishes are sent, crossing through time unfading  
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_The cries of someone are reflected in your eyes with a sparkle, the feelings in the wind  
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_The wishes in the moon, they all live within powerful limitations, today  
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_Our feelings too, will one day continue to shine  
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_With someone's heart, like those stars  
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_One, two bell chimes resound vast and deep, to within the heart  
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_Drops of stars like a story; fine tracks are amassed within them  
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_The era moves along with time, and the flowing stars quietly move too  
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_If you close your eyes, and listen closely, good bye  
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_A bunch of black and white photographs of the sky, a blowing muffler, white breath  
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_I want to get closer, even if it's just a little; running double time until we're on higher ground  
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_If we take out a massive telescope  
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_The lens will disturb the star dust  
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_Time takes away time, and romance passes through the eras  
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_Releasing the light, now we'll firmly pass through time without giving up  
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_Until it reaches someone, the light of glory will go on and make a story  
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_Beyond all of this, along with us  
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_The light of the stars in the sky that I looked up to  
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_Old memories and wishes are sent, crossing through time unfading  
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_The cries of someone are reflected in your eyes with a sparkle, the feelings in the wind  
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_The wishes in the moon, they all live within powerful limitations, today  
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_Our feelings too, will one day continue to shine  
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_With someone's heart, like those stars  
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_A baby's first cry is raised, a small light, a bit light  
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_Crossing through space and time, they meet  
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_All of the individual sparklings become one, and a story is created  
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_Like the constellations that are connected point to point, if only  
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_I could paint a beautiful picture for someone  
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_Look up, hey, they're winter's diamonds  
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_The creeping Milky Way, soon I'll be able to take back my courage  
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_Releasing the light, now we'll firmly pass through  
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_Time without giving up, until it reaches someone  
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_The light of glory will go on and make a story  
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_Beyond all of this, along with us  
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_The light of the stars in the sky that I looked up to  
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_Old memories and wishes are sent, crossing through time unfading  
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_The cries of someone are reflected in your eyes with a sparkle, the feelings in the wind  
_

_The wishes in the moon, they all live within powerful limitations, today  
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_Our feelings too, will one day continue to shine  
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_With someone's heart, like those stars  
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_The sky is infinitely vast, yes  
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_Beyond the sea, first breaths are taken, and lives are cut off  
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_The stars shine down like goddesses  
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_The moments of the four seasons repeat, continuing on for long times  
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_That's good; we'll carve in our memories just a little bit  
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_Passing through endless time, and starting to shine  
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_The story continues on inside of my heart  
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_One day, the you from that day will board the night train_

_The light of the stars in the sky that I looked up to  
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_Old memories and wishes are sent, crossing through time unfading  
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_The cries of someone are reflected in your eyes with a sparkle, the feelings in the wind  
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_The wishes in the moon, they all live within powerful limitations, today  
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_Our feelings too, will one day continue to shine  
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_With someone's heart, like those stars_

* * *

Chapter 2: (Aqua) A New Journey begins.

I sat on top of the Clock Tower in Twilight Town. In the past ten years I've grown to love this view. This place has become my usual safe place when I don't want to deal with the world. Up here I think of Ven, Terra, and Master Eraqus. I miss them all. These ten years hasn't been easy with them gone. I knew that we wouldn't be able to stay together forever. But I had hoped that we would at least have the freedom to see each other often.

Last I saw of Ven was about a year after his MQE. Sadly he and Mickey had found nothing on whom, or what had devoured these worlds. Sadly the culprit or culprits were good at covering up their tracks. I sighed looking down at the blue frozen treat in my hand. The Sea Salt Ice Cream was slowly melting. Drops were seeping through the ice cream at random spots. Biting into the ice cream I wondered when I would finally be able to do something about the lost worlds.

I wanted to help those who have lost their worlds to darkness. According to Yen Sid in the past two years alone, over ten worlds have been filled with darkness. That fact scares me a little. I worried about this world, as well as all other worlds. Unlike this world, and Mickey's world, the other worlds don't have the privilege of Keyblade masters to defend them. Finishing my ice cream I saw on the side it read. "WINNER" I remember hearing about these sticks, you turn them in, and you get some kinda prize. Pocketing the Stick I leaned back on my palms and drank in the sunset. I didn't know it, but this lovely view; I would never be able to gaze upon it for nearly a year.

* * *

I heard a weird sound. It was almost like thunder, I had to cover my ears. Then I saw a Keyblade-Rider fly out of an open portal. It Was Ven. He hadn't changed much since I last saw him. But it was still kinda hard to get use to the fact that he was now taller than me. "Aqua, we need to go to Yen Sid's. It's time." He said solemnly as his Rider hovered next to the ledge of the clock tower. I nodded firmly.

We decided to take the train. It may take longer than flying to the other side of the world, but the view was worth it. I thought to myself as I indulged myself to the warmth from the eternal sunset.

Within a few hours we stood in front of Master Yen Sid. Next to Ven and me, were Donald Duck, and his friend Goofy. The two looked determined, and ready for a fight. I was as well. I would face anything that would come my way. And hopefully we will find Terra.

"The time has come. The dark shadows are starting to close on us. It is time for you to go about the worlds. You must heed the words of King Mickey. Follow the Key." The old sage said in his usual Firm voice. He lifted his hand and waved it a little. A dark shadow appeared next to Donald who jumped up into the air, he clutched the dogs head in fear of the creature. I believe this is a Heartless.

"On your journeys you will encounter monster as these. The Heartless will come in different forms and shapes. They feed on the darkness of people's hearts. You must never stumble to close to the dark." He explained. Looking to Ven he sighed. "I apologize to you Ventus, but King Mickey has requested that you return to Disney Castle." At that Ven jumped up in anger.

"What, why should I?" He demanded livid that he would not be able to fight alongside me. Before Yen Sid could reply Ven was already defending his case. "Mickey isn't even at the castle himself. I'm not needed there. I would be more valuable fighting beside Aqua."

The old sage had the patience I could never dream of. His reply was clam, and collected. "That is why you must return. You need to defend the castle from any possible shadows that decide to attack." At that my blonde haired friend sighed irritated, though he did agree after a while.

The three of us Donald, Goofy, and I flew on a Gummi Ship to a world I had never been to, Traverse Town. Yen Sid claimed that we might find another Keyblade there. We also needed to meet with a man named Squall Leonheart. He would assist us. I gripped the orange Wayfinder in my pocket and sighed. "Terra, just wait a bit longer, I'll find you once this mess is over." I didn't know it at the time, but I was going to find him much sooner than I had planned.

* * *

well i know it is short but this is all you are going to get until next week. But rest assure that i am writing as much as i can.

so good, bad? let me know.


	3. Meeting Squall

Well here is Chapter Three a bit early, I'm only updating because I have stuff to do Friday, and i won't be able to update then, so here it is. enjoy.

* * *

The Path I Continue To Walk:

Chapter three: (Terra) Meeting Squall.

My body felt heavy. I couldn't even lift my arms up. I knew that I was still alive. I had no idea as to why I felt so banged up. I know for a fact that the Heartless didn't do that much damage to me. If anything they were actually fairly easy to subdue, save for the Darkside and few Neoshadows. For a second I thought I heard a dog's bark from nowhere.

"Master? Master Terra? Wake up!" I heard the voice of Sora yell. My heavy eye lids protested as I pried them open. I saw the concern face of my youngest apprentice.

"Sora?" I questioned. At that the blue eyed, brown haired boy grinned.

"Are you okay, Master Terra?" he asked concerned about my injuries. I tried to get up but found that was nearly impossible.

"Sora, I don't think I'll be able to move for a while. I think it would be best if you looked around a little, maybe there is an item shop nearby. If you find a shop nearby, I want you to buy a potion. "I said to my apprentice. I saw the boy's face light up.

"I think I have something that will help." He said as he pulled out a clear vile, with a green liquid inside.

"When did you get that?" I inquired my apprentice who scratched his head and smiled sheepishly. He explained how one of the strange creatures had dropped it while I was busy drinking the potion.

After drinking the potion, I felt much better. I was still sore from my earlier wounds, but I would live. "We should find out where we are." I said to my apprentice.

"You haven't been to this world yet?" he questioned me. I nodded, I honestly didn't recognize this world. From what I could see we were in an alley of what appeared to be a small town.

'Maybe we should look around the town.' I thought to myself. Nodding accepting my decision I explained to Sora a few of the scared rules that a Keybearer must follow. Well I only told him one of the rules, but it is the most important. Those chosen by the Key must not allow anyone to know of the other worlds, and they must not interfere with the affairs of the worlds.

* * *

After explaining the scared principles to Sora we got out of the alley, and walked into the what appeared to be the shopping district of this town. "Wow…" I heard Sora mutter under his breath. Apparently my spiky, brown haired apprentice was fascinated with this world. A stern glance at him to remind him to not to draw to much attention.

Walking into a store, I noted that the sign had the name "Traverse Town" on it. So from that I'd guess that this world is called Traverse Town. Inside the store a fire place, a couple of benches, and a counter top. Behind said counter top was a blonde man, who appeared to be in his mid-thirties. He wore a white T-shirt, blue jeans, and he had a cigarette in his mouth.

"How can I help ya?" he questioned me.

"I was wondering if you had seen two children around these parts. My friend here, and I got separated from them." The blond man scratched the stubble on his chin in thought.

"Nope, ain't seen any kids around these parts, save for your friend there." He said pointing to Sora with his cigarette. I sighed seeing that he wouldn't be much help. "If I see, or hear anything, I'll let you know." The blonde man said. "Names Cid, by the way, if you ever need help come to me." Cid said kindly. I smiled and nodded.

Sora and I decided to split up to search for Riku, and Kairi. I was really worried about the former. He had been surrounded by darkness. His heart was even more shrouded in darkness than mine had nearly a decade ago. 'Riku…don't give in to the dark.' I silently prayed, I believe in my apprentice, I know that he won't fall to darkness.

As I walked through the town I heard the words of others. People spoke of their lost families. I heard people talking about their homes that were destroyed. 'They speak as if they know of other worlds.' I thought to myself as I wondered through the crowd. Stopping at the item shop I packed up on Potions, and ethers. I knew that these items would come in handy on a tight spot.

* * *

Once I met up with Sora, in front of Cid's shop we had learned that the people here were all from different worlds. Not just some, or a few, but nearly ALL were from a different world. Their worlds had all fallen to darkness. I wondered what had been happening since I've been gone. How could things turn out like this? Where were Aqua, Ven, and Mickey. They're Keyblade wielders. They should be able to handle the darkness without my help.

Did they fall, were they lost because I wasn't there to help them? I hoped that my fears were not true. I don't think I could take finding out that my most precious people were killed.

With our new knowledge the two of us headed to the 2nd district. I could see that Sora was enjoying his time in this brand new world, though I could detect his disappointment that he could not find Riku, or Kairi. I placed my hand on his shoulder. The blue eyed boy stared at me in question. "Don't worry, Sora we will find them." I said. for some reason this scene reminded me of the time in the Graveyard ten years ago. '…Ven.' Sora's depressing face reminds me of that time Ven had asked Aqua and I to kill him. I now know that I never hope to see such a face in my lifetime.

I heard footsteps pounding into the floor. For some reason when the faceless bystander fell to their feet, and lost their heart to a Soldier Heartless. I could easily see Ventus falling to the floor. The old man, who I hated more than anything stood over where my blonde friend had lost his heart. At the time I didn't know it, but all I was looking at was a simple Heartless. I'll never know why I pictured Xehanort that day, but I felt the old emotions I did at the Graveyard, feelings of the hate and anger that I thought I had casted off years ago, when I was separated from Aqua.

My power exploded in a burst of raw power as I took down the Heartless that were coming at us. All I could see as I slashed and hacked at these monsters was that bastard's smirk. 'Xehanort, Xehanort, Xehanort!' after the last one had died I came out of my trance.

The town around Sora and I was quite beat up. I guess I still felt a lot of hate for that man. Why? That's what I can't understand. He should be dead, I thought that I had buried the hatchet years ago. I had forgiven myself for what I had done to my Master, 'hadn't I?' I questioned myself. I guess I would find out if Xehanort was still alive or not during this adventure. For some reason I think he might be involved.

"Master…" at that I turned to Sora. My spiky haired apprentice was looking at me oddly. I sighed knowing I couldn't do it. I could not tell him of what happened all those years ago. this is not his battle, it's my battle. "Master are you okay, what was that about?" he questioned softly, his blue eyes filled with concern.

"I'll tell you later, Sora." I lied through my teeth. He seemed to believe me. We walked through the town. Looking for any signs of our friends. I also looked to see if there was a way off this world. I can't turn my master's Keyblade into a rider, for it's not my original Keyblade. I can't open a Corridor of Darkness, id risk Sora's heart by doing so.

* * *

Eventually we came through a big door. When we exited on the other side I was a bit ticked off. Our search had led us back to where we started.

"They will come at you from nowhere as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade." I heard a deep voice speak out.

"Huh?" my apprentice turned to face the voice; a young man, with brown hair, a scar on his face, wearing black leather pants, a white T-shirt, and a black leather jacket stood before us. "Who are you?" Sora asked the Stanger.

'Who indeed?' I silently mused as the man started to make his way to us, taking slow and calculated steps.

The man ignored Sora's question, he continued with his own words. "And they won't stop coming." He said pointing to the simple Keyblade in Sora's hand. "But why would it choose a kid?" he questioned to himself more than Sora.

I could see Sora's irritation. "What do you mean by that?" he snapped at the man.

"Not important." The man said calmly ignoring Sora's irritation. He stepped forward. "Now, let's see what you can do with that blade." As he walked toward us, his pace increased. In his hand a fire ball appeared.

'Oh no!' I pushed Sora out of the way. As the ball came to me, I sliced it in half with my Keyblade that I had just barely called in time.

"Two!" he said in surprise for the first time momentarily losing his cool, clearly the man had not expected another Keybearer, though I wondered how he knows of its existence. The man charged after Sora. I watched from the side lines as Sora took this mysterious foe on. I wanted to get involved, but I can't fight Sora's battles forever. I won't be there to protect him forever, and I know that he knows this too.

Sora really surprised me as I watched him take on this nameless foe. Sora seemed to be holding his own quite well. The spiky haired boy parried this unknown man's swipes, and countered when he could. Though I could see that this nameless youth was holding back a bit, the man jumped into the air and prepared a dive attack on Sora, who quickly charged and unleashed a slash at him, stopping his blade that I just now noted was a Gunblade. I knew that it took some skill to wield one of those, which meant that this guy was no armature.

I quickly jumped into the fry before he could land the final blow on Sora. The brown haired boy was leaning on his Keyblade, using it like a crutch, panting. 'you did well today Sora.' I silently said in my head. I could see that our 'new friend' Wasn't much better off. The man was on one knee, he seemed a little out of breath himself. I kept my Keyblade up, ready for a possible attack.

A second later I heard a loud thump. At that I swiftly turned and sighed at the sight of Sora flat on his back, passed out. My apprentice had fainted from over-exhaustion, what a pain.

"Aw you're slipping Squall." A feminine voice said. The owner of the voice was a very attractive girl who seemed to be around Sora's age, maybe a year or two older. She had short black hair that framed her overly cute face. her brown eyes were full of what appeared to be innocents, but I doubt that to be the truth. Around her neck she wore a yellow scarf. Her choice of clothing was a bit revealing to say the least. She wore a green tube top, white short-short, she had brown gloves on her hands, and her legs were covered by white stockings.

"I went easy on him." The brown haired man, whose name I guess is Squall, said as he rose to his feet.

"Sure you did." The girl teased playfully.

"Well, I see that the boy is not the only Keyblade wielder around." Squall said looking at me. I dismissed my master's Keyblade, knowing that they were most likely on my side, as they hadn't attacked me in all this time.

"How do you know of the Keyblade?" I asked. I saw the black haired teen walk pass me, she picked up Sora, with incredible ease might I add.

"We'll explain, later, now we need to get him out of here. More Heartless will come if we don't leave." The black haired girl said.

The two youths walked toward where I guess they lived. Sighing I followed them, knowing that I didn't really have much of a choice.

* * *

Sora, and our new friends were inside of the building I was now outside of. I was leaning against a wall, thinking about what was happening. Right now Yuffie and Squall were explaining to Sora everything he would need to know about the Heartless, and among other things. It had been a good fifthteen minutes since they had gone in there, and I was starting to get a bit antsy. I wanted to get off this world, and find Aqua, and Ven. I knew that they would be able to help Sora and I. That and I wanted to see them again, obliviously, I blushed slightly as I recalled the last moment with Aqua. I shook my head, not allowing that mental image to take place. I don't even know if that was real, or just a dream.

Seconds later I heard glass break. Jumping to attention I saw two Solider Heartless fly out of the building. I prepared to summon my Keyblade, but I was beaten to the punch. Next to the side walk was a small stream, and I, as well as the Heartless didn't expect the water to jump up and freeze them, only to shatter as a woman with long blue hair crashed into them from where they came.

I gasped as the woman ran pass me, not even seeing me. Her eyes were the same shade of blue that I always saw in my dreams. Her hair, was that same color that made Aqua the most notable of all woman. This woman wore a white trench coat, sadly that's all I could see, for it covered most of her body. As I watched her disappear from sight, I knew that I had to follow her. I needed to see if it really was Aqua. I was so caught up in my need to find her, that I didn't see my apprentice and Squall jump out of the window seconds after she had.

As I searched the town I encountered many Heartless. Though for the most part they were the usual rift raft. Very weak, just in large numbers, I slashed the Soldiers in half. Two Shadows jumped up at me, hoping to slice my face with their claws. I sliced one in half, while grabbing the other by its face, and then slamming it into the ground. Not wasting an instant, I released a blue Dark Firaga, which killed it.

"I'm getting tired of this." I muttered as I entered Critical Impact. I overtook the Heartless in my over powered state. They couldn't even hope to stand up against me. I used Quake, on the majority of them. The earth shot up in jagged spikes, killing Heartless in an instant.

It was then that I felt a powerful presence nearby. I ran to the third district, looking down the balcony I saw Sora fighting a bunch of heartless. I considered joining in, but did not. Sora was aided by a duck, and a dog man. 'Donald and Goofy? Did that mean that Mickey was nearby?' the trio finally finished the Heartless off.

Then in a split second six parts of giant Armor came crashing down. They moved in the air into formation, it was this time I was reminded of the Trinity Armor ten years ago. knowing that they would need help I appeared in front of Sora, and blocked the incoming Punch from the Guard Armor. The Heartless seemed almost confused that its punch had been blocked.

It attacked again. I dodged it by Jumping on its back. I jumped again, and released a ball of light energy at the Heartless. The Heartless skidded back. I smirked. Ready for a fight.

I saw Sora had come to my side. It seemed that he was ready for a Melee as well. I still wondered if that woman was nearby. Maybe she was watching this battle as well. Waiting for the right moment to strike. 'Get your head in the game Terra.' I mentally scolded myself. I need to be ready. The monster pulled back its fist. I readied my Keyblade, daring it to make the first move.

* * *

And that was the third chapter, i hope you all enjoy this one, though I will admit that i kinda rushed at the end. So for that i apologize, I promise that I'll make it up to you guys.


	4. Traverse Town Welcome

**Well, I didn't plan on updating today, but I've got nothing to do, and also on another note, I'm planning on another story soon, so that might take up a lot of my writing time. So production on this story will slow and possibly halt, but don't doubt that I will not finish this story. Anyway on with the story.**

* * *

The Path I Continue To Walk

Chapter Four: (Aqua) Traverse Town Welcome

The three of us had landed in Traverse Town, I'll admit that the Gummi Ship was able to hold more than just one person, but it was slower than my Keyblade-Glider. Sighing I walked forward. I could see a small café to the side. The people were a bit odd to me, I mean there were people who were tanned, but then there were people who looked pale as ghost. Judging by the conversations I could somewhat hear, it seemed that these were survivors that had lost their home worlds. And that this world was a lot more like a refugee place.

The Duck, Donald, and the two Dogs, Goofy and Pluto followed closely. It wouldn't be the best idea for us to separate. Though I idly wondered why Pluto had come with us. I could understand Donald, and Goofy being sent to look for this "Key", but why Pluto? Could he possibly sniff out this "Key"? When asked Goofy said that he had stole away on their Ship. I mentally faced palm at that. Going up the stairs in the plaza I saw an Accessory shop, and to the left I saw the entrance for an Item Shop. Luckily I had stocked up on potions before leaving Twilight Town.

I heard Goofy gasp in shock. Turning back I saw him and Donald looking up. "Look, a star's going out!" upon looking up I saw that indeed a star was fading from existence, signaling the disappearance of yet another world.

'We need to find Squall quick!' I thought to myself with urgency. 'Nothing good will come of doing nothing.' I looked back at the Duck and Dog-man. "We need to get moving, hurry up guys!" I said. They nodded firmly.

After walking for a few minutes I heard Donald mutter. "Where's that Key…" at that I sighed silently to myself.

'I don't know it's just around the corner.' I thought to myself sarcastically. Glancing at them from behind I heard Goofy suggest that we find Squall. I was inclined to agree with his suggestion. In this world we're outsiders, it would do us good to find help in a world where we know nothing.

I stopped at an intersection, seeing that there were two paths. I honestly have no idea what path was the right one to take. The Duck and two dogs caught up after a few seconds. I saw the Duck take the right path, and the golden colored dog take the left path. Goofy just stopped next to me. "Uh, Donald. Ya know. I betcha that…"

The Duck cut him off. "Aw, what do you know, you big palooka?" he squawked looking at Goofy from the corner of his eye.

The dog turned to look after Pluto. "What do I know?" he asked himself in a voice that suggest that he isn't the brightest bulb. At that I sighed, and followed after Donald. "Come on, Pluto!" I heard the Dog-man shout out.

* * *

After walking for a few minutes we ended up in the Second District. I walked up to the Duck, tapping him on the shoulder I pointed over to the Hotel. "That's probably a good place to start looking for Squall." I said to him.

The Duck was against the idea of looking for this Squall person. "We don't need his help; we'll find the Key ourselves." The Duck stubbornly said.

"Listen Donald, I've been to many worlds myself. I know that it would be best to find Squall. We have no idea of how this world operates, we need his help." I said in a tone that left no room for argument. He and Goofy followed me. Entering the Hotel I saw that it was fairly nice. The hall had white walls, the floor was hardwood, paintings covered the white walls. I saw brown doors with numbers on them.

After checking to see if Squall was somewhere in the Hotel we somehow ended up in the alley way in the back. I saw a small stream near my side. And further down the alley was a gate that led to what I believe it probably the sewers.

Goofy decided to break the silence. "Gawrsh, there's nobody here. Sure is spooky!" he said somewhat afraid.

"Aw, phooey. I'm not afraid of anything." The Duck said boldly. After that statement I heard the Duck shriek in terror. Honestly it was hard not to laugh as I saw him clinging onto the Dog-man in fear of our unexpected arrival.

"Excuse me. Were you three sent by the King?" A young woman, probably a little younger than me, asked. She had beautiful brown hair, which was braided, she wore a pink dress. Her green eyes were filled with a motherly kindness, and around her throat was a pink chocker.

* * *

After about a half hour the three of us had been escorted by Aerith, the woman from earlier into a room inside the Hotel. There were three other occupants inside the room. A young girl, probably sixteen in age. Another was a young man, who appeared to be closer to Aerith in age. Finally the last was a sleeping boy who appeared to be the youngest of us all, maybe Fifthteen.

The younger girl was hovering over the sleeping boy; she had black hair that framed her face. She was oddly dressed. In my opinion. She wore a green tube top, and white Short-Shorts, she also sported white leggings. "Come on, you lazy bum. Wake up." She said in a playful tone.

The brown haired boy's blue eyes started to open. With a groan he slowly sat up. He still appeared to be a little out of it. 'What happened to this kid?' I thought to myself. I also noted how oddly he was dressed. He wore a completely red outfit under a black jacket with white sleeves; he also wore a chained crown necklace. On his hands were white fingerless gloves with a blue circle in the middle of them. And his feet he wore what appeared to be yellow clown shoes.

The black haired girl stared at him for a second. "You alright?" she asked him softly.

"I guess…" he trailed off.

"Those creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade." She explained. "But what they really desire is your heart. They seek it, because you wield the Keyblade." The black haired girl explained.

The boy, appearing to have not completely heard the girl said somewhat dazed. "I'm so glad that you're safe, Kairi." The black haired girl seemed a little surprised.

"Kairi?" she asked. "Who are you talking about?" she asked further. "I'm the great ninja Yuffie." She proudly stated. The youth gasped. "I think you went a little too hard on him, Squall." Yuffie scolded the brown haired man, named squall, who was leaning against a wall.

"Shut up." He said in a bored voice. I saw the brown haired boy look over to Squall.

"The Keyblade…" he said quietly. And I saw it; leaning against the wall was his Keyblade was very simple in design. Yellow hand guard, sliver blade. It kinda reminded a little of my old Master's Keyblade.

"Yea, we had to get it away from you to shake off those monsters." Yuffie said walking across the room. Putting her hands on her waist she stated. "That's how they were tracking you."

"It was the only way to hide your heart from them" he said as he crossed his arms. ", but it won't work for much longer." The man walked over to the boy's Keyblade. "Still is hard to believe that you're a chosen wielder of the Keyblade." Squall said, while picking up the simple Keyblade. With a flash the Keyblade appeared in the boy's hand. Walking over to the spiky haired boy Squall said in a bored voice. "Guess we got to work with what we got."

"Why don't you start making some sense!" the brown haired boy stated a bit frustrated. "What is going on?" he asked.

The brown haired girl Aerith, who had been silent, like me and my two companions, started out. "I'm sure that your Master has already told you of other worlds, right?" she asked.

That got my attention. 'This kid has a Master?' I asked myself. Was it possible that this kid is Terra's apprentice? I stayed silent, knowing that I would probably find out sooner or later.

The spiky haired boy stared at her, having not noticed her earlier. "Yea, Master Terra has already explained to me and Riku that there are other worlds." I almost gasped out loud, so it is true. Terra is alright, and he's possibly nearby. Sadly my questions would have to wait, for now.

"And I'm sure that you already know that the knowledge of other worlds is not common knowledge to everyone, right?" she asked.

The boy nodded. "Yea, Terra has said many times that most aren't allowed to know of the existence of other worlds. He also told me, upon coming to this world, that as Keybearers we are not allowed to get too involved with other world affairs."

The young woman nodded. "The existence of other worlds has been a secret because they have never been connected." She paused for a second. "Until now." She added. "When the Heartless came," she looked away sadly. "Everything changed."

"Heartless?" The Brunette asked Aerith.

"The monsters that attacked you." The black haired ninja stated. "You remember?" she asked.

"Those void of hearts." Squall stated.

The black haired girl took a seat next to the oddly dressed boy. "The darkness in people's hearts is what attracts them." Yuffie stated.

"And darkness lurks in all hearts." I stated softly, remembering Eraqus' words.

The black haired girl, who apparently thought of something, turned her head towards Goofy and Donald. "Hey, have you two heard of a man named Ansem?" she asked.

"Ansem?" the Dog-man asked with a raised brow, while scratching his head.

"He studied the Heartless through most of his life." Yuffie said as she turned her head to Goofy. I saw Aerith nod in confirmation.

"He recorded all of his findings in a very detailed report." Aerith added.

"Really?" I asked. I walked over to Aerith. "Could you tell me where to find this report?" I asked curiously.

The brown haired girl sadly shook her head. "Its pages are scattered everywhere." She stated sorrowfully.

"Scattered?" the Duck inquired.

"Too many worlds." Aerith affirmed

"Hmm, oh, maybe the King went to go find 'em." Goofy said after much thought.

The white Duck nodded in thought. "Yes, that was my exact guess." Aerith said nodding her head.

"Then we should find him quick!" Goofy said, moving to the door.

The white Duck grabbed Goofy's shirt before he could rush out of the room. "Wait a minute Goofy; we came because of the Key!" He reminded the Dog-man. "The King said we needed to find the Key!" He continued.

"You mean this?" the brown haired boy asked, while holding up his simple looking Keyblade.

The Duck nodded at the boy. Squall walked over to the brown haired boy. He was almost hovering over him. "The Heartless have a great fear of the Keyblade." He stated. "That's the reason they won't ever leave you alone." He said walking away from the boy.

The brown haired boy sighed. "I wish I knew what all this had entitled before agreeing to be Master Terra's apprentice." He said softly.

I sighed; walking over to the boy I sat next to him, on the opposite side that Yuffie was not setting next to. "Would that have influenced your choice?" I asked while putting my hand on his shoulder.

The brown haired boy sat in thought for a minute. I noted that everyone was staring at him. He shook his head. "No, but a warning would have been nice." The brown haired boy said with a tired sigh afterwards, as I removed my hand from his shoulder.

"Oh well." Squall said as he leaned against the wall he had leaned against earlier.

"How did this even happen?" the boy said looking down at his Keyblade. "I remember being in my room…" he trailed off. Then I saw his eyes widen in surprise. With a gasp he stood up as he just remembered something important. "Wait a second! What happened to my home! My island!" he asked looking around the room. "Riku!" he yelled. "Kairi…" he said looking down at the floor in sadness.

I felt bad for the boy; apparently in exchange for his Keyblade he had lost his home and his friends. "You know what?" Squall asked monotonously. "I really have no idea." He said.

* * *

The young boy sighed as he dismissed his Keyblade. I honestly felt bad for him, but there's nothing we can do at this moment. Putting my hand on his shoulder, "I…uh…I'm sorry about your loss." I tried to say with as much sympathy as I could muster. "But there's one question that I really need to ask." I paused wondering if it's really the proper time to ask. I saw him nod his head. Having apparently read my mind after seeing my hesitance. "Do you really know Terra?" I asked him.

With a small gasp he stood up. "You're Aqua, aren't you?" he asked with a small grin which contrasted to how his face was a moment ago. I nodded. "I'm Sora, and Terra has told me a bit about you." Sora said. At that I felt my heart flutter, knowing that I would be seeing him soon. "Is it true that he actually lit your hair on fire?" he asked with an innocent smile.

'Warm feeling gone…' With that I felt my right eye twitch.

"Enough chit-chat." Squall said. "Are you ready?" he asked the Sora.

The spiky haired boy raised an Eyebrow at him. "For what?" he asked.

"To fight for your life of course." Squall causally said. "Are you ready?" he asked Sora again.

The brown haired boy nodded. "I'm ready!" he said vigorously.

"Squall!" Yuffie shouted pointing to where two Heartless, I believe this type of Heartless are called Soldiers appeared. It had what appeared to be a knight's helmet on.

"Yuffie, get going!" Squall ordered, pulling out his Gunblade. The Ninja rushed out of the room, going through a red door, while Aerith followed. "Sora, Aqua you guys with me!" he said taking control.

The two of us summoned our Keyblades. His appearing in a brilliant bright flash of white light, mine in a bit of a duller flash of pink petals, and light. I gripped the hilt of Ocean's Crest. With a shout I charged the Heartless. With one strike of my orange Keyblade the Heartless went flying through the window.

Looking outside I saw the alley Donald, Goofy and I had been in earlier. Using magic I manipulated the water in the stream, which jumped up and froze the Heartless. I then jumped out of the window, landing on the Heartless, which shattered too many pieces. I charged down the alley, slicing any Heartless in my way.

* * *

I had separated from Sora, Squall, Donald, and Goofy. But I knew that they would be okay, and these monsters were Childs play compared to the Unversed. Running through the alley I saw a door, going through it I found myself in the Second District. Walking to the center of the area I found I was surrounded by Heartless, which in appearance looked similar to Flood Unversed. "I don't have time for you guys!" I shouted as I Gripped the Orange Keyblade tightly in my hand.

"Gather!" I shouted while Casting Magnerga, the Heartless were swept up in a storm of red and blue. Jumping up I attacked with Magic Hour. Appearing above the Heartless I charged downward, destroying the gathered Heartless in a flash of white light that jumped from the ground upon my descent. I swear all of these Heartless were just too easy. Though I know that I wouldn't be thinking that if I hadn't trained at all in the past ten years. I saw a door leading to the next district surprisingly things had gone quiet after destroying all these Heartless. Believing that they might be in the next district I headed for the door.

Upon reaching the Third District I saw Sora, Donald and Goofy surrounded by Heartless. The three were working very well together, taking down the Heartless. I was a bit surprised that they were using such good teamwork. Because of that I stayed my blade.

After all the Shadows and Solider Heartless were done away with. I was about to reveal myself until I felt the ground shake. Then in a flash of Déjà vu a Heartless that reminded me of the Trinity Armor from Ten years ago appeared. The mid section floated in the air, and then the legs quickly went in place under its mid section, as its arms appeared I gripped my Keyblade, prepared to jump into the fray.

Then a brown haired man, wearing a black white lined Haori, jumped into the fry, blocking an attack, meant for Sora. 'Terra…' I thought to myself taking in his appearance. He looked relatively the same as he did ten years ago; He swiftly jumped over onto the Heartless' back. Jumping off its back he fired off a Ball of Light Energy.

I saw Sora run to his Master's side. Apparently they were just itching for a fight. For some reason looking at them, I saw an eighteen year old Terra, and a fourteen year old Ven, at Radiant Garden, I felt like I was sixteen again. 'Brings back memories.' I thought to myself with a smile. With a sigh I jumped onto the ledge preparing to make my entrance at the Heartless drew back its arm in preparation for to attack. I better get ready, I decided, I only have the element of surprise on my side. '…' I jumped into the air. 'Bring it on!'

**And yeah a bit of a cliffhanger, anyway, I promise that I'll be posting the next chapter soon.**


	5. Reunion

**Well I am just going to post this tonight since I've just posted another new story of mine. If any of you are curious it is a Naruto story that I'm posting. And it's going to follow the story of "The World Ends With You" TWEWY. One of Square Enix's best games if you ask me personally. Anyway if any of you are curious, check it out. Now onto this story, I will say that I apologize at how short this chapter is. I honestly didn't really feel that much motivation when writing this chapter, but I can promise you that if you bear with me and wait for next week's update then it will make up for this one… I hope, but in all seriousness after this chapter things will really start picking up. Anyway now on with the show.**

* * *

The Path I Continue To Walk

Chapter: Five (Terra) Reunion

The Guard Armor pulled its gigantic fist back in preparation to strike; I in turn braced my legs ready to jump out of the way. Before it could strike its arm was frozen in a block of solid ice; it happened so fast. A young woman wielding an orange Keyblade appeared behind the Heartless, and slashed at its legs. I was amazed as the woman skillfully dodged its attacks how she gracefully moved away from the Guard Armor's legs and fired off three Firaga's at the Heartless.

I broke out of my stupor as I rushed the Heartless' legs. Using Sonic Blade I charged forward unleashing a series of attacks too fast for the human eye. I heard Sora give off a battle cry as he swiped at the Heartless' arms.

"Fire!" A scratchy voice broke out. The white Duck fired off a low level fire spell at the Heartless. I used Brutal Blast on the Guard Armor from underneath it I spun and fired off a reddish beam of light up its mid section while the young blue haired woman, whom I am sure, is Aqua used Magic Hour on the Heartless jumping from above it and landing in a beam of Light.

Sensing danger I dashed out from under the Heartless as it went air born and landed in its separate pieces causing a shock wave to rise up. Luckily Aqua had the nerve to conjure up a Barrier for her, Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

I used Solo Arcanum on the Guard Armor's legs, after seconds of my relentless barrage the legs busted into many green orbs.

Aqua Attacked the Heartless from behind while Sora laid siege to the front. The Guard Armor swiped at the two Keybearers. I saw Donald prepare a fire spell, after the attack flew toward the Heartless I charged him using Chaos Rave I was engulfed in a dark aura. Sadly my attack missed for he was in the air.

I jumped up and swiped at his arms, Sora appeared beside me seconds later attacking the Heartless' other arm. Within seconds it disintegrated.

Sora, Aqua, and I now surrounded the Heartless in a triangle formation. "Aqua! Sora!" I shouted as I leaped into the air.

"Hai!" they both responded as the three of us sliced the Heartless in two. The Guard Armor fell to the floor only to release a captured heart, where it goes I have no idea.

* * *

"Terra…" I turned to look behind me. There stood Aqua, I took in her appearance. She looked a lot different, her hair had grown out, I kinda liked it. She now wore a different outfit, she had also gained more muscle and her body was more toned. She had completely grown up. So had I, we both had changed in the past ten years. But I still recognized her, I briefly wondered where Ven was.

"Aqua…" I replied as I watched her now take my appearance in. seconds later she embraced me with a tight hug. "Aqua, It's good to see you again." I said as I returned her embrace. "…I…I love you." I said softly. There I said it, just as I swore I would. She pulled out of my hug slightly, and crashed her lips to my own. I returned her kiss once I realized that her lips were against mine once again. I felt warmth, I had missed her greatly these past ten years and now we're back together. I broke the kiss after a few seconds.

She gave me a questioned gaze, I could see that her cheeks were flushed, and her lips were a bit swollen. "Where's Ven?" I questioned.

"Oh." She said. She looked down, I guess she was trying to put her words together. "He's at Disney Castle. He had to stay behind while we, Donald, Goofy, and I were suppose to travel the worlds." She explained.

I nodded taking her words in. 'wait…' I mused to myself. "What has been happing out there?" I questioned. "I've been on Destiny Islands for so long, I'm a bit out of touch with the outside worlds." I explained.

"The worlds are being devoured by darkness. We need to travel the worlds and stop this threat." She explained. "The Keyblade needs to find the world's Keyholes. So we can seal them, and prevent the Heartless from abusing them." She informed me.

Damn I really had missed a lot. "We can go to other worlds on our vessel!" I heard Goofy's loud voice cut through my thoughts. I looked over to Sora, Donald, and Goofy. They had apparently become fast friends. I smiled at that, soon they would probably share a bond similar to my friendship with Ventus. I looked over to Aqua.

She had also noted the events going on in front of us. It would be up to us to guide them in the right direction. I grabbed her hand. She gripped mine as well. "I love you." She whispered softly. I smiled as now things were finally starting to fall into place. I then placed a soft chaste kiss on her lips.

"Together this time." I said. "This time we won't be separated." I said firmly. She nodded at that.

"Okay we'll go with you guys" Sora said to Donald and Goofy. With the five of us together nothing would defeat us, we'll never be separated this time.

We soon made our way to the Gummi Ship as it is called. "I've never heard of a Gummi ship." I said uncertain if this thing would get us to other worlds.

"It makes better travel for multiple people in lieu of the Keyblade-Riders, but it's a lot slower." My now girlfriend explained.

"Should I be worried?" I questioned.

She pondered my questioned for a second. "Yea, if Donald is driving, I'd recommend writing your last will now." She said as she walked casually walked onto the ship.

'That duck will finish the job that the Guard Armor couldn't.' I thought to myself as I boarded the Gummi ship. As we entered I saw that it was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. I noted with fear in my heart that Sora had taken the divers seat. "Uh Sora I don't thin-" but I was cut off as the ship activated and we left Traverse Town.

* * *

**And that's all, I hope you enjoyed it. I'm honestly sorry that I couldn't do much better than this, I know that a lot of you probably wanted a "Tear filled" reunion, but this was all I could do at the time, and I still don't know how to improve it. I apologize in all honesty, but I'm just lazy to improve it, I might later on, but don't hold your breath.**


	6. A troubled hero

**You know I didn't plan on uploading this today, but I'm sick and have nothing to do, so on with the show. Well I'm sure that you all have enjoyed this ride, I sure have. I want to thank everyone who likes this story and who has been reading. This chapter if for all of you, so enjoy.**

**(From this point until I deem so, this story will be in Third POV)**

* * *

The Path I Continue to Walk

Chapter six: A troubled hero

The Gummi ship flew through the lanes in between, Terra looked out the window of the Gummi ship cockpit. It felt good finally knowing that he would soon see a world, he briefly wondered if it would be one that he had seen before, or would it be an entirely new one. Terra had only seen a handful of worlds, compared to how many there really are he had only seen a small percentage of the true number of worlds. "There!" he heard his apprentice yell out.

Looking forward Terra saw that indeed a world was coming close to them. Looking at it he realized that he had been to this world before. 'The Olympus Coliseum'. Terra watched as Sora piloted the ship with the help of Goofy.

* * *

Aqua breathed out as she walked the familiar ground, she remembered this world fairly well. She walked towards the Vestibule, Terra walked next to her, while Sora, Donald, and Goofy took up the front. "Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Terra asked a bit nostalgic. She nodded her confirmation.

No other conversation passed as they entered the vestibule of the Coliseum. Terra tapped her shoulder and pointed forward. Aqua saw who he pointed at, Phil. The half goat, half man appeared to be preparing for the games.

Sora walked up to Phil. "Umm."

"Good timing." Phil's voice cut Sora off. Aqua was pretty certain of how this would go. Phil was the type of person to speak without thinking. "Give me a hand will ya?" He then pointed over to where a small pedestal was. "Move that for me will ya? I gotta fix this place up for the games." He said without ever even once looking at us.

Sora nodded, he walked over to the pedestal and with all of his might he tried to push it. He grunted when he saw that the stubborn pedestal refused to budge. "It's too heavy!" he complained to Phil.

"Heavy?" The goat man asked in surprise. "Since when have you been such a little…" He then saw who he had been talking to. "Whoops wrong person, what in the name of the gods are you doing here?" He asked as he jumped off the pedestal he had been standing on.

"He is here to participate in the games." Terra said to the goat man.

Sora looked at his Master in surprise. "The games?" he quietly asked.

"HAHAHA, these pipsqueaks join in the games? You gotta be kidding me!" He fell to the floor laughing. Standing to his feet he got a good look at Terra. "Oh do the gods deceive me?" He quietly asked in comparison to his voice a second ago, he spoke like he'd seen a dead man. Then he got a look at Aqua, "Oi sweet cheeks, that you?" He asked, trying to flirt.

Terra resisted the urge to pound the rude goat man into the ground, 'Deep calming breaths, breathe in breathe out.' He thought to himself trying to calm himself, he didn't think a wise Master would commit a murder in front of his student.

"My name is NOT sweet cheeks." Aqua muttered under her breath as her cheeks flushed a slight red at the embarrassment.

"Hey we're still here!" Donald yelled at the goat man breaking his attention from Aqua.

"Huh?" He looked at the duck, dog-man, and the young boy. "Terra, are these three with you two?" He asked the male Keyblade Master.

"Yes." Terra said walking towards Sora, placing a hand on Sora's shoulder he spoke once more. "This is Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Sora is my apprentice, and on his way to becoming a hero."

"That runt!" Phil asked trying to contain his laughter. "The great Hero, Terra took in a runt as his apprentice and claims that he is on his way to hero hood? Oh the gods laugh!" Phil then walked over to the pedestal that Sora had been unable to move before. "If he couldn't even move this thing an inch than his chances of being a hero is zero." Phil said as he tried to move the pedestal, which wouldn't even budge an inch. He heaved, and pushed, and shoved no matter what the pedestal refused to move. Looking at Terra's somewhat smug expression he huffed. "Okay maybe it ain't all about brawns, but this kid still is a zero."

Sora looked downward a bit sadly. "He may not be big and strong, but this boy has the potential to become even more of a hero that I did, I believe that Sora has the potential to become more powerful than me." Terra said coming to the aid of his apprentice.

At this Aqua was in a bit of awe, she didn't think that Terra would go this far for this boy. She smiled; her love truly had gone from a boy to a man. "Well…" Phil seemed to be a bit conflicted. "Maybe he has this potential you speak of, but has he even ever fought? Has he stared down monsters like you have?" Phil asked referring to the Unversed.

"Hey!" Sora said finally speaking. "I've faced a bunch of monsters!" He referred to his exploits in Traverse Town.

"Kid…I'm not sur-"Aqua then decided to help out the two Keybearers.

"Phil, I seem to remember that one of your trainees wasn't much, did he not become a hero? Did you not see the potential in him that Terra can plainly see in Sora?" She asked as she placed her index finger under chin.

The goat man seemed to be lost in thought knowing who she was referring to. Terra smiled as he saw Phil hesitated and was pondering if Sora might have it in him. "Why don't you just test him?" Terra recommended. "Test him and you will see what I have been talking about." Terra challenged.

"Alright! Alright! I'll test the brat, you!" He said gaining Sora's complete attention. "I'm not going to give you the easy stuff, if Terra here is telling me the truth and you really do have this potential then this course should be Child's play for you, are you ready?" He asked Sora who nodded. "Alright, let's go!"

* * *

Terra watched his apprentice slice through the barrels that Phil had placed around the coliseum. This was actually a very good training method that would help Sora on his weak point that Terra use to have, speed. Terra once fought using only insanely powerful slow strikes, ever since becoming a Master he had learned to fight with his full power at high speeds.

"Your kids good Terra." Phil commented as he intently watched the brown haired Keybearer. "He's not a hero yet, but I think that the day he becomes a hero isn't far away."

"Yeah he really isn't far away; I've been his Master for nearly ten years now." Terra commented as Aqua stayed silent watching Sora ignite a barrel with the fire spell she and Donald had taught him on the Gummi ship.

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. Ten years? If you've been training this kid for ten years shouldn't he be running circles around that field out there?" Phil asked in surprise.

"You may think he would, but he is only fourteen, and he had never really had any real experience in actual combat until just about a day or two ago." Terra calmly explained.

Phil nodded in understanding then gasped. "Wait, two days, you're telling me this kid has only just started actual fighting two days ago!"He saw Terra nod. "Hmm, maybe this kid does have it in him." He turned his attention to Aqua. "So I'm curious, how do you two know each other again?" He asked Aqua.

Before the bluenette could answer Terra beat her to it. "We're childhood friends, and now she's my girlfriend." He said to the goat man who sighed dejectedly while Aqua rolled her eyes.

* * *

After Sora had finished the group went back into the vestibule. Terra was leaning against the wall as he watched Phil speak to his apprentice. "You know what kid?" he asked. "You ain't half bad." He said as Sora crossed his arms behind his head.

"I guess that means I'm in the games now, aren't I?" He asked a bit over confidently.

"I hate to burst your bubble, but you're not entering the games!" Sora looked a bit surprised at Phil's outburst.

"Why not!" Sora demanded.

"Two words!" Phil stated. "You guys ain't heroes!" He said stressing every word as Goofy counted them off his fingers.

'He still can't count...' Aqua stated in her mind.

"Come on!" Sora yelled at the goat man. Though Sora didn't go unrewarded for his efforts in Phil's training course, Phil did give him the means to use the Thunder spell.

Terra sighed as Aqua tried to talk Phil into letting them into the games. "Come on you saw firsthand that Sora can handle it." She argued.

The goat man sighed. "Yes, I admit that he might be able to take it, but it's not just because they're not heroes that I denied them entrance into the games. There's no more passes for the next games." At that Terra walked out of the vestibule to search for Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

* * *

He saw his apprentice and friends walking away, just as he was about to go after them a voice made him freeze. "Quite the stubborn old goat ain't he?" A man who was completely blue and wearing a black toga, his hair was also blue, but it was on fire, appeared. Terra quickly hid himself from the four people.

"Who are you?" Donald Duck inquired albeit accusingly.

"Whoa hold the phone there quacks." He said to the duck "Wait let me guess." He said going into business. Terra knew this tone, he would try and make a deal with you, and use you for all your worth.

'What would a good Master do?' Terra asked himself as he watched from behind one of the support beams that held the building up. 'A good Master would take Hades down right now; a good Master would protect his student.' Terra sighed. "A good Master would let his apprentice make his own mistakes and rise up from them." He mumbled under his breath speaking from experience.

"You want to enter the games, right?" Hades, the god of the Underworld asked. Hades then appeared in a puff of blue smoke from behind Sora. "Well get a load of this little puppy." He said conjuring up a small piece of paper.

"A pass?" Sora asked in delight.

"It's all yours. Good luck, kid. I'm pulling for you, little Shorty." Hades said walking away.

Sora headed back into the Vestibule as Terra came out of his hiding place. He took a seat on the stairs to the coliseum and sighed as he looked down sadly to the ground. "Master Eraqus, am I doing the right thing?" He asked yearning to hear his Masters wisdom, but knowing that he wouldn't.

* * *

"What, how'd you get this?" Phil asked Sora, Aqua watched the scene. She and Phil had been arguing about letting Sora into the games and he was close to possibly making an exception then Sora came in claiming to have gotten a pass for the games.

"Now can we join the games?" Sora asked almost tauntingly.

"I guess so…"Phil replied a bit uneasy. "Alright!" His voice regained its confidence. "We'll start with the preliminaries!" He informed Sora. "So you guys ready?" The goat man asked.

"Yea, let's do it!" Sora said excitedly.

"Alright that's what I want to hear, kid head on through." Phil said.

"Watch yourselves out there." Aqua warned the three who nodded in response.

* * *

Aqua and Phil were seated in the stands, while Sora was standing in the middle of the ring. 'Where is Terra?' Aqua wondered. She had seen him leave the vestibule earlier but hadn't pursed him. Then when Sora came back he hadn't said anything about him. She sighed to herself knowing that she was over worrying. 'Terra is a grown man, he knows how to watch himself.' She convinced herself.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy stared at their opponents. Four Solider Heartless and four Blue Rhapsodies. Sora charged the Heartless full force, without using any magic he kept on striking them, never giving them a chance to retaliate. Going after the Blue Rhapsodies he jumped to the air and delivered a swift three hit combo. Landing on the floor he used sliding dash on a Soldier Heartless, coming out of his slide he slashed at the Heartless until it disappeared in a puff of smoke and a lone heart floated away.

"The kids good, really good." Phil muttered under his breath. Aqua nodded in agreement, she knew that he could fight, but she had never been able to watch him fight from the sidelines. This was a nice chance to see how he handled himself.

"Of course he's good. I trained him, didn't I?" A voice asked. The two turned to see Terra walking toward them. Taking a seat next to Aqua he spoke. "So how is he doing?"

"Well Terra I wouldn't be surprised if the girls didn't start chanting this kids name within a year like with how they did for about a month after you came here." Phil said a bit bitterly. "I couldn't find a girl that wasn't interested in ya, you prick." Phil teased.

"That's the power of the Keyblade!" Aqua looked back to see that all the Heartless had been defeated by Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

Standing in front of the entrance of the vestibule Phil talked to the three competitors while Aqua and Terra decided to stay in the stands waiting for the next match. "You three ain't half bad, you're not heroes yet, maybe someday with Terra and Aqua's guidance and my coaching the day you three become heroes isn't far away." Just then a blonde haired man walked slowly past them.

He was dressed in purple clothing that had rips and a few tears throughout his outfit under his red cape. His blue eyes locked with Sora's as he passed the four. "Something tells me that guy won't be an easy defeat, I'm afraid that he might be the ones to take ya out." Phil commented in a serious voice while crossing his arms. Sora didn't comment, knowing that Phil was serious and that he shouldn't take that man lightly.

* * *

Phil headed back to the vestibule to work on something while Terra and Aqua watched the beginning of the second match. Sora battled eight Shadows and three Blue Rhapsodies, Sora started out with casting a low level Thunder spell, thus killing all the Shadow Heartless. Goofy charged one of the Blue Rhapsodies, as Donald casted Fire on another one. Sora charged the remaining Blue Rhapsody.

"You've done a good job Terra, Master Eraqus would be proud of you." Aqua commented softly as she softly clasped his hand in hers.

"Would he really?" Terra mumbled under his breath as he broke out of her grasp, stood up, and walked away as Aqua looked after him with a sad and questioning glance.

Aqua made to go after Terra that is until she heard Sora's victory cry. "Oh Yea!" She saw Ventus in the boy for a second.

She remembered when the three of them had been training, whenever Terra wanted to be alone, if he walked away it was important NOT to follow him. He would just get mad, the best thing to do was just to wait for him to come to her. She remembered a little after Ventus came Terra had been a bit testy, she had no idea why until she came to the conclusion that she hadn't been spending anytime with him. So after a day of sparing she asked him if he wanted to go star gazing, just the two of them, like they use to before Ven moved in. At first Terra said no, but a few hours later he had come to her room asking her if her offer was still on the table. 'Terra, what plagues your heart now?' Aqua silently asked as she took her seat and placed a hand over her own heart.

* * *

Sora was doing so well in the games that it made Hades have to shift his focus a bit. "That little brat is your next opponent, okay?" Hades said to his 'employee' for lack of a better term. "Now, don't blow it." Hades ordered. "Just take him out."

"The great god of the Underworld fears a little kid?" Cloud asked in an almost taunting voice. "Sorry to say but the contract says-" Cloud was cut off as Hades went on and on.

"I know!" He shouted. "You think I don't know?" He asked. "I wrote the damn contract!" Hades yelled as he poked Cloud in the chest at each syllable. "I know it says that you are only required to kill Hercules in this tournament." Hades confirmed making a few hand gestures as he spoke. "But you are going to have to go through him to get to Hercules in the first place! Come on!" The god of the Underworld sighed and pointed toward where Phil stood out in the stands. "Hey, it's just like that old goat says: Rule number 11: it's all just a game, so cut loose and have fun with it!" Hades recited while making a punching gesture at the end of his little spiel. "I mean a casualty or two along the way is no big deal, right?" He asked the blonde man who just walked away from him without saying anything.

"Geez. Stiffer than the stiffs back home." Hades mumbled under his breath.

"What are you scheming this time Hades?" A voice asked from behind the god of the Underworld.

"I'm not scheming…" Hades paused as he looked at the man who had the hood of his haori covering his face. "Do I know you?" He asked a bit nonchalantly. "Are you on the list?" Hades casually inquired as a clipboard appeared in a puff of smoke in his hand. "Name?" Hades asked a bit exasperated.

Terra raised an eyebrow. "Does the name 'Terra' ring any bells?" The brown haired youth asked as he pulled his hood down.

"Terra. Terra. Terra." Hades repeated as he looked on his list. "Terra! That does ring a bell, alarming bells." Hades muttered the last part under his breath as his clipboard disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Once again I ask, what are you scheming this time?" Terra inquired more like demanded an answer.

"Oh it's nothing, nothing at all." Hades said as he put an arm over Terra's shoulder. "Just some friendly competition." Hades paused as if he just noticed something. "By the way have you lost weight? Where you been?" Hades casually asked as if he were talking to an old friend.

"Don't touch me." Terra said pushing the god of the Underworld away. "And don't change the subject." He calmly said.

"Change the subject, me?" Hades asked him as though he couldn't believe that he was being accused of something. "I'm just curious as to what has been happening to my old 'business partner' is all. Is there something wrong with that?" Hades asked. He then took a time to look the man over. "Hmm. You seem a bit different." Hades said walking around the youth. "A bit lighter," He paused as he walked in a circle around Terra. "Or is it darker?" he questioned. "I can't tell…" he trailed off as he scratched his chin.

"Hades, I've come to tell you that whatever you are planning will not happen." Terra firmly stated looking the god of the underworld straight in the eye.

"Hey, hey. No need to get like that, I'm just here to enjoy the games. Would I ever lie to you?" Hades asked with a false innocent expression as he held a hand to where his heart should be. Before Terra could even answer Hades had disappeared in a puff of smoke. Terra sighed and watched the remainder of Sora's matches from where he stood.

* * *

Sora sighed as he walked on to the ring for the final battle, his opponent a young man a few years younger than Terra. The man wielded a huge sword, dubbed the Buster Sword. The match quickly began, Cloud charged Sora who rolled out of the way while Donald fired a Thunder spell at Cloud. Sora came out of his Dodge Roll and performed Sliding Dash on Cloud. The man staggered back a bit as Sora came out of his dash and preformed a three hit combo on him. Cloud wildly slashed at the Keybearer, Sora rolled out of the way as Goofy charged Cloud with his shield.

"Fire! Thunder!" Sora shouted.

"Fire! Thunder!" Donald shouted.

The two unleashed their magic on the swordsman, who staggered back from their powerful attacks. "That's how you do it kid!" Phil shouted from the stands.

"Go Sora!" Aqua cheered the Keybearer/Hero in training on.

Sora unleashed a series of slashes at the man who parried him. Cloud used Sonic Blade on the brown haired teen. Sora yelled out as he fell onto his back, he looked as Cloud was above him sword ready to stab him. Cloud lifted the sword above his head. 'Shit he's actually trying to kill me!' Sora realized as he quickly rolled out of the way.

"Damn…" Cloud muttered as he tried to pull his sword out of the ground. Sora charged him with a powerful downward swipe. Cloud was pushed away from his sword; rolling on the ground he lifted himself to his feet. With a yell he fired a blast of darkness at Sora.

"Ha!" Sora yelled as he slashed at the dark projectile and swiped at the weaponless man.

Cloud rolled on the ground, once he stopped he just stared at the ground. He could hear Sora's slow steps. 'My end…' Cloud thought to himself as he lifted his head up to look at Sora who had stopped right in front of him. Cloud closed his eyes waiting for the end.

When his end didn't come Cloud opened his eyes to see that Sora had a hand offered out to him. "Good game, you're really strong." Sora said with a smile. Cloud resisted the urge to smile back; he found that this kid's was a bit contagious. Just as he was about to grasp Sora's hand he was stomped on by the giant paw of the three headed dog, Cerberus.

With a roar Cerberus was pushed back by a young man who had appeared out of nowhere. This man had orange colored hair and blue eyes. His attire was a completely brown shirt with a brown skirt. He wore sandals, and a blue cape was on his back.

"Herc!" Phil shouted to the young man.

"Phil, you need to get them out of here!" The youth shouted as he pushed the giant three headed dog back.

* * *

The occupants of the arena fled the scene, back in the vestibule Sora and Aqua were preparing to go and assist the man who Phil had told them is Hercules. The two Keybearers and animals made sure that they were stocked up on items. "Are you three ready?" Aqua asked them. Sora nodded at her question.

Hercules was backed against a wall, usually fighting against Cerberus was no big deal, almost easy. But with having to worry about Cloud's safety, the young man who was dangling from his shoulder and unmoving, if not for the fact that he was breathing Hercules would think he was dead. The giant dog prepared to end it all, but then stopped Cerberus heard footsteps making his way toward him.

Turning around Cerberus saw a young brown haired teen, a young blue haired woman, and two animals, a dog man, and a duck. Hercules used this chance to get Cloud out of the danger and ran past the giant dog.

"Kid I got two words of advice, Attack!" He yelled as Sora charged the giant dog. Aqua teleported above the dog performing Time Splicer she slashed at one of the dog's heads. While Sora swung his Keyblade at the dog's middle head.

"Thunder!" Donald shouted. While Goofy jumped up and smashed his shield into one of Cerberus' heads. The dog roared as it leaned back onto its hind legs and slammed the ground with its front legs, creating a shock wave that pushed Sora, Donald and Goofy back a bit. Aqua having been quick enough to dodge fired three Firaga's at the giant dog, who jumped over her and landed behind her creating a shockwave that pushed her away from him.

Quickly getting to her feet Aqua saw that Sora was already slashing at the dog, she had to admire his persistence. With a smirk she jumped over to aid the boy and started to slash at Cerberus. With a yell she stabbed the dog in one of its red eyes. The giant dog howled in pain as it jumped back; with a roar it breathed purple fire from its throat to its mouth and into the ground. Aqua looked down as she felt the ground get hot. 'Yikes!' She thought to herself as she cart wheeled away.

Sora was in the middle of doing Dodge Rolls himself trying not to get hit. As he came out of a roll he was attack by a ball of fire that Cerberus had launched once it had finished its previous attack. Sora not having been expected that flew back, his Keyblade disappeared in a flash. He tried to stand but found that he didn't have enough time to push himself to his feet, for Cerberus was trying to bite at him. Sora pushed himself to the side just barley dodging the attack.

* * *

Terra having been watching since the beginning knew that he should step in this time. 'A good Master allows his apprentice to make mistakes.' He thought to himself as he appeared in front of Sora. He stopped Cerberus with his Master Keeper Keyblade. The dog roared in pain as Terra blasted him back with his blue Dark Firaga attack. "But a good Master doesn't abandon him!" Terra shouted as he charged Cerberus.

Aqua ran over to Sora, and kneeled down to him. Placing his arm over her shoulder she led him out of the arena with Donald and Goofy in tow.

Terra dodged a fire ball attack from Cerberus. Terra kept teleporting all over the field almost taunting the giant three headed dog. After dodging yet again another fire ball Cerberus jumped into the air and a shockwave hit where Terra had just appeared. He quickly dodged just seconds away from being hit, and appeared in Cerberus' face. With a slash the dog howled in pain. Landing on his feet Terra fired off an orb of light from the tip of his black skeleton Keyblade at Cerberus.

Terra backed up a bit as he saw that the dog didn't look to happy. 'Now what Mr. Genius?' He sarcastically asked himself.

"Terra!" He heard a somewhat familiar voice yell out. A young man wielding a giant sword jumped from behind Cerberus and slashed at his back. The Three headed beast roared in pain and rage. The young man had black spiky hair not to different from Terra's, and blue eyes. He wore a black turtle neck shirt, black baggy pants; black combat boots, and black shoulder pads. "Now Terra finish him off!" the spiky haired man ordered.

"Meteor!" Terra shouted as he raised his Keyblade into the air. A giant rock appeared above Cerberus who was just regaining his bearings and the rock slammed down on him releasing a bright orange light. Once the dust cleared the two youths saw that Cerberus was down and out. Terra gave a sigh of relief as he dismissed his later Master's Keyblade. "Thanks." He said turning his attention to the newcomer, then he did a double take. "Zack?" he asked surprised.

"Haha, that's me." Zack confirmed with a grin on his face as he casually placed his hands on his hips. "SOLDIER 1st Class Zack Fair, on the job." He said his grin widening to his blue Mako enhanced eyes.

* * *

"For bravery, thus I do hereby dub thee junior heroes, and confer upon thee full rights and privileges to partake in the games." Phil read off to Sora, Donald, and Goofy. "Further-" He was then cut off by a short tempered duck.

""Hey! What do you mean 'junior' heroes?" The duck demanded.

"You rookies still don't have the qualities of a true hero." The half goat man spoke.

"What does it take?" Goofy asked him and Hercules who happened to be standing next to Phil.

"Well…that's something you need to figure out for yourselves." Hercules explained. "Just like ii did." He finished.

"That's no problem." Sora said confidently "We'll start by proving ourselves in the games." He finished excitedly.

"Sorry squirt. There aren't going to be any games for a while." He said looking over to the entrance to the arena. "Need to still clean up that mess that Cerberus created." He said gesturing to the 'Closed' sign in front of the entrance.

"Fine, we'll defiantly be back." Sora said as he, Donald, and Goofy headed out of the room as Phil and Hercules waved to them.

"I still can't believe that little brat stood toe to toe with Cerberus." Phil muttered a bit amazed to Hercules.

Hercules leaned over to Phil and whispered. "Between you and me, I had already worn Cerberus out a bit by the time Sora jumped into the fray." He whispered in the goat man's ear.

Phil watched the door close and turned to Hercules. "See these lips, these ones right here?" The goat-man asked. "Well guess what, they're sealed." He said with a smile.

* * *

Once outside Sora saw his Master and Aqua speaking to a spiky black haired man. He turned his attention to the entrance of the coliseum, he saw the blonde spiky haired man sitting there, and he seemed to be brooding a bit.

"It's great to see you two again!" Zack the puppy said to Terra and Aqua. "What's it been now, Ten years?" He asked the Keyblade Masters a bit accusingly.

"Sorry, things have been bit hectic." Terra said quietly.

"And they're probably about to get worse…" Aqua muttered under her breath.

Having heard the bluenette Zack turned his attention to her. "Hey, not nothing a couple of heroes can't handle, right?" he asked with a grin.

"That's right, as long as we stick together there's nothing we can't do." Terra said to Aqua. She smiled at her boyfriend.

With a glance at Zack she smiled as well, it was good to see him again. 'Thank god he doesn't remember that silly promise that he didn't even let me say no to.' She mentally rolled her eyes.

At that second Zeus had decided to mock her thoughts. "Hey Aqua, remember that promise, you know about that date if I became a hero?" Zack asked a bit excitedly.

'Damn it all…'

* * *

Somewhere on Mount Olympus Zeus shared a hearty laugh with the other gods.

* * *

Terra felt his eye twitch, "That's the second time today that someone has had the nerve to hit on my _girlfriend_." He said through gritted teeth. At that Zack gulped and started to back away slowly. He saw Terra raise a fist, closing his eye waiting for the punch he flinched back. Then he felt a soft tap on his shoulder. "Now you know not to hit on Aqua right?" Terra asked with a grin while Aqua tried not to laugh.

"Right." Zack said with a small smile as he tapped Terra's shoulder back.

"Hey, are you okay?" Cloud heard a familiar voice ask.

'Don't give me your pity that's the last thing I need.' He thought to himself. "Yeah." He quietly said.

"So…Why did you go along with his plans anyway?" Sora curiously asked.

Cloud folded his hands and placed his forehead on them. "I'm looking for someone Hades promised to lend me a hand." He quietly said. 'That's right, just mock me. I'm the bad guy, blah, blah, blah.' He said in his mind. Standing up he sighed. "I tried to tamper with the power of darkness, but it backfired." He said with a sigh. "I fell into the dark abyss, and I couldn't find my light or any light at all." He said looking to the sky. 'Tifa.'

"You'll find it." Sora said reassuringly. Cloud looked at the boy in surprise. "I'm searching, too." He said.

"For your light?" Cloud asked. Sora nodded in confirmation. '…Kid these days.' He thought with a mental smile. Walking toward Sora he placed something in his hand. "Don't lose sight of your path." He quietly said, and walked past the brown haired boy.

"Hey how about a rematch someday, a fair and square battle, no darkness involved." Sora offered.

Cloud stopped at the offer and glanced at the kid from the corner of his eye. '…I…I like this kid.' He decided. "Pass." He said as he ran a hand through his hair. Sora watched him walk away, he watched as a black spiky haired man came up to Cloud and started to walk alongside him. The black spiky haired guy seemed to be saying something excitedly and he was even waving his arms to add animation to his 'story'. While Cloud didn't seem to be listening. Sora watched as the newcomer slapped Clouds back at something the blonde had said in response.

"Ready to go?" Terra asked his apprentice as he walked up to him. Sora nodded as he headed for the Gummi ship. Aqua grabbed Terra's hand and the two walked hand in hand to the Gummi ship, both almost as egger as Sora to see the next world.

**

* * *

**

And that's the sixth chapter; I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'll admit I like this chapter a lot. For some reason after writing the fifth chapter a while back I kinda took a break from this story, but after playing KH1FM I got into the spirit, and here's what came from it. XD anyway stay tuned for the next chapter in a about a week or so.


	7. Welcome to the jungle

**Well I see that you're all enjoying this story, good, because so am I. Anyway I was going to post this tomorrow, but I'm going to be busy tomorrow night, so I decided to post this a day early. Anyway enjoy and please review.**

* * *

The Path I Continue to Walk

Chapter seven: Welcome to the jungle

The occupants in the Gummi Ship were all silent, at the moment Donald was driving, and Terra was strapped in for dear life. And boy was he thankful for that as he watched the duck barely dodge boulders that nearly hit them. 'Crazy duck's going to kill me…'

"Hey Donald, maybe King Mickey's down there." Goofy commented as they neared a green world. Terra took note of this world, for he had never been here. Sharing a glance with Aqua confirmed that she had not been here either.

"In such a backwater place, no such way!" The duck said in reply. "Let's get a move on." He said as he started to punch in new coordinates.

"Hold it. Riku and Kairi could be down there for all we know." Sora said as he grabbed the wheel.

'Oh this isn't going to be pretty…' Terra thought as he prepared for a crash.

"At least check it out." Sora insisted.

The duck was quite stubborn, "Forget it! We're on an important mission!" The duck said as he and Sora were now grabbing at the wheel.

"Just land this thing!" Sora said now starting to get mad.

'Please land, not crash…' Aqua sighed to herself.

"Never!" Donald screamed.

"Come on!"Sora said getting a grip on the wheel. "We ARE landing." He said firmly.

"Don't touch that!" Donald said as he fought with Sora over the wheel. Terra and Aqua both gulped. While Goofy hid behind his seat.

* * *

"Whoa!" Sora yelled as he landed in what apparently was a house. "My head…" looking around he called for his friends. "Donald? Goofy? Master Terra? Aqua?" Instead of his friends affirming that they were alright he heard a roar. Looking up he saw a leopard jump in through the window. Drawing his Keyblade Sora jumped back and dodged the animal. Putting the Kingdom Key in a defensive position as the leopard attacked Sora who found himself flying back.

The leopard give a freighting roar as Sora rose to his feet, getting into his fighting position he prepared for a fight. "Freeze!" three shots of Blizzarga's were fired at the animal. The leopard howled in pain, it jumped back not wanting the brown haired boy to take advantage of its weakness.

Sora watched as Aqua jumped through the window. "Sora, are you alright?" the brown haired boy nodded in confirmation that he had suffered no injuries. "Then let's get him!"

Sora slashed at the leopard that in retaliation jumped over the Keybearer. Moving fast Aqua cart wheeled over to the leopard and started slashing as she came out of her roll. The leopard roared in pain as the orange Keyblade made contact with it. "Wind!" The bluenette shouted as a small world wind appeared around the animal and lifted it off the ground.

"Fire!" Sora shouted as he fired off a weak fire spell at the cousin of cats who was still mid air. The leopard flew into a wall. Slowly the leopard returned to its feet, analyzing its situation it knew that its best chances of survival were to run, and it did just that.

Aqua watched as the overgrown house cat ran away with its tail in between its legs. "Sabor. Danger." A man said. Aqua and Sora turned their attention to a man who had just walked in. he was crouched down, had long brown hair. His clothes, or lack of consisted of a loincloth, and that's all.

"Um…thank you."

"Thank you…" The man repeated Sora's words slowly.

"What is this place?" Sora asked as he looked around the building. Aqua too looked around and from what she could see from the windows they seem to be in a jungle. She had seen the tropical jungle herself while outside, landing on the net underneath the home she was so glad that it didn't break, Aqua wasn't sure if those trees would break her fall as well as the net did.

"This place, this place." The man replied simply.

"Okay…" Sora sighed.

Aqua decided to see if she could get anything out of this guy. "Have you seen a group that looks out of place? A young man oddly dressed, and two talking animals. A duck and a dog.?"

"Duck, duck. Dog, dog." The man muttered as the bluenette resisted the urge to palm slap her face.

Sora stepped forward. "Look, we got separated from our friends. Have you possibly seen them?" Sora slowly asked. The man hmmed he seemed to show some reaction. "Friends…" Sora stressed out.

"Friends." The man repeated a bit more strongly than his other words, like he actually understood this word.

"That's right, our friends!" Sora happily said. "There's three of them, there's my Master, Terra, then there's one guy who looks like a dog, his name is Goofy." Sora spoke pretty fast. "Then the loud one is Dona-" he paused after a second he started again. "I'm looking for Terra, Riku, and Kairi. Have you seen those three?" Aqua gave Sora an odd look at the fact that he had stopped at Donald's name. Sighing she placed her hands in her coat pockets, she knew why.

'He's still mad obviously. '

"Look for Terra, friends?" The man asked. Sora nodded encouraging him to go on. "Riku, friends?" he asked.

"That's right!" Sora happily said now that the man seemed to finally be understanding.

"Kairi, friends?" The man asked.

Sora slowly answered for some reason his mind seemed to be somewhere else. "Right…"Sora said looking at the man. He turned his attention to behind the man and what he saw was a bit surprising, he was seeing Kairi. Aqua, seeing that Sora was staring into space, fixed the young boy a strange glance and made note to possibly ask him about this another day as she saw that he was just staring at a wall.

"Friends here." The man said. That seemed to get Sora's attention real quick.

"Really!" Sora asked with a mix of joy and surprise.

"*&&x%" The man said something that neither Sora nor Aqua could understand. Sora and Aqua shared a glance wondering if the other had gotten any of that. Aqua just shrugged at the boy whose shoulders slumped a bit in defeat. "*&&x%" The man repeated . "Friends here."

"I didn't get any of that…" Aqua said under her breath.

"I'm not sure what you're saying, but can you show me?" The brown haired Keybearer said. "Take me to Terra, Riku, and Kairi." Sora pleaded.

"Tarzan." The man said as he pointed to himself. "Tarzan go."

"This is…Aqua, and I'm…Sora." He paused for a second then gestured to himself and Tarzan. "Tarzan go, Sora and Aqua go go!" Aqua almost faced palm at that. The three walked out of the old building and they got a nice view of the jungle, Aqua could see that it was large and there seemed to be no villages.

* * *

Terra sighed as he stood up from the rock he was sitting on. "Gawrsh, where are we?" Goofy asked. "I sure hope that Sora and Aqua are okay…" Goofy said looking to the floor.

The white duck sat up angry feelings from the previous argument still fresh. "Aw, who needs him?" Donald said. "We can find the king without him." HE muttered under his breath. Terra mentally sighed to himself.

"Donald you do know that Sora is in the right, don't you?" Terra asked tiredly. The Duck just humped in return. "He's looking for his friends, one of whom is my other pupil. Unlike the king, Riku and Kairi won't be able to defend themselves for long." Terra explained while the duck did somewhat listen, though he didn't want to admit that maybe Sora was in the right.

Donald sighed as he reached for his staff that he had dropped upon crashing. What he felt was not his staff, but hairy, a second and a scream later revealed it to be a gorilla.

* * *

The three animals and one human heard footsteps coming our way, in a panic the primate ran away. Terra noted that it had dropped something. While Donald and Goofy were busy watching the trees waiting for something to jump out and attack Terra picked up the item that had been dropped.

Donald and Goofy gulped as the bamboo started to rustle, seconds later a man toting a double barrel shot gun came out. Terra could tell by his expression that he was a bit of a snob, or at least he seemed the snobbish type.

* * *

Back up in the tree house Aqua watched as Tarzan jumped off the tree. She sighed as Sora followed without question. Walking to the ledge she looked down and saw that it was quite the drop, looking to her side she saw a path that she could just walk down. '…Ah what the hell.' She thought to herself while rolling her eyes. "Geronimo!" she yelled as she jumped off.

Sliding down the trees was a bit of a fun experience Aqua discovered as she, Sora, and Tarzan sled down the large tree. She watched as branches came her way, carefully analyzing the distance she choose to jump just seconds before she could be hit. While Sora opted to just strike at them with his Kingdom Key. While Tarzan for the most part just dodge them only occasionally whacking them away. They finally came to a downward slope, Aqua braced herself to go flying, as she and Sora jumped off together.

The trio landed in what appeared to be a campsite. There were crates, tables, and tents around. Aqua took note of personal items, such as a clock and clothes. She saw that Sora had walked ahead, and was entering a tent, swiftly she followed him in. Tarzan walked forward akin to how an animal would, using his feet and fist. "Jane." He said as the three walked in.

A young woman about a few years younger than Aqua and had long brown hair had her back turned and appeared to be working on something turned to them. "Tarzan…" She trailed off as she noticed the two newcomers. "Oh, who are these two?" She asked.

Aqua decided to answer. "I'm Aqua an-"She was cut off by Jane.

"Oh, you speak English." She stated a bit surprised. "So I guess that means you're not related to Tarzan…" Jane trailed off.

'Do I look like I've lived in a jungle all my life?' Aqua mentally asked. She didn't mean to sound sarcastic, but for one she looked nothing like Tarzan, and also her clothes as well as Sora's were to clean for them to have lived in this place like Tarzan apparently had.

"Are you here to study the gorillas?" Jane asked.

"I highly doubt that…" a new voice stated.

In walked were four people, one carrying a double barrel shot gun, wearing a yellow coat over a red undershirt, and with grey pants. The others were Goofy in his yellow pants, and green shirt grey vest combo. As well as Donald in his blue shirt, and blue beret. And finally Terra who dressed in his usual attire that he had barrowed years ago from Eraqus.

"Sora!" Goofy said.

"Goofy! Donald! Terra!" Sora said happily as he and the two animals shared a hug. Sora and Donald then both stopped mid hug and turned away from each other with their arms crossed.

'So close…' Aqua and Terra thought to themselves as Terra walked over to his girlfriend.

"It seems the circus is in town, but this won't help us hunt those gorillas." Terra heard the snobbish mans mutter annoyed as he walked out of the tent.

"Mr. Clayton, we are here to study them, this is not a hunt. We are here for research," Jane stressed as Aqua concluded that she did NOT like this man. Truing to the five left in the tent Jane smiled. "Well, the more the merrier." She said with a smile. "Please make yourselves at home."

"Well anyway…" Sora trailed off arms still crossed with his back turned to Donald.

"I'm staying." He and Donald said in union, this caused Terra to give the angry friends a eyebrow raise. ""Huh?" Sora said as he turned to Donald.

"Sora look what we found!" Goofy happily said as Terra tossed a small fragment to the brunette. The item was a small multicolored block; Sora stared at it somewhat curiously.

"What is this thing?" Sora asked as he looked at it from all angles. Goofy told Sora that it is a Gummi block, the same kind that is used on the very ship that had transported the five world to world. "So this means…." Sora trailed off looking at the two animal's expectedly.

"That the King could be nearby here." Donald finished. "We need to find him as fast as possible."

"Who says that I'm going anywhere with you?" Sora snapped as he backed away. Terra gave a small cough.

"Sora, we need their ship to find Riku and Kairi, just as they need our help." Terra firmly said to his pupil.

Sora looked to the floor in thought. He was still very angry at Donald, but he against his will agreed with his Master. They did need Donald and Goofy's ship, just as Donald and Goofy needed them. "I'll go along, for now…" Sora said under his breath as Donald humped. Terra sighed to himself as he shrugged his shoulders.

Aqua walked over to the woman, Jane. "Why is Tarzan kinda…?" The bluenette trailed off as she looked at the "ape man" from the corner of her eye.

"Apparently Tarzan was raised in this very jungle by the gorillas." Jane whispered to her. "At first it was quite difficult to communicate with him, it's still not easy, though he is learning." The brunette continued.

"So…he was speaking 'gorillianese' back there?" Sora questioned.

The kind woman smiled slightly. "That's right; you're searching for your friends?" She questioned.

"Tarzan said that Riku and Kairi are here." Sora said to Jane. "And something else." Sora mumbled.

"Maybe this could help you." Jane said pointing to what looked like a camera."We can show Tarzan some slides and see if any of them match this word he said." Jane said. Jane started to look for something around after a second she sighed tiredly. "Where are they?" she muttered under her breath.

"What are you looking for?" Terra inquired.

"The slides, I think they might have gotten mixed up in the luggage." She said to the young man.

"I see…" Terra mumbled after a second. "Sora here will find them for you." He said after he thought to himself for a minute.

"That would be wonderful." Jane said.

"Me?" Sora said under his breath.

* * *

Now outside the tent Terra walked over to the grandfather clock not far away from them, he saw that it was working. "Sora." He called over. The young brunette walked over to his Master. "See this clock, when the big hand lands on the 12 you better have found all six slides." Terra said in a voice that sounded like a parody version of a drill sergeants. "You've got five minutes, so get moving." Terra said.

At that Sora broke into a sprint in search of the missing slides. Terra sighed as he took a seat on one of the chairs nearby. "You know you didn't have to make him do all the work." Aqua said as she took a seat next to her boyfriend.

"I didn't." He said as he pulled a small card shaped item out of his pocket and held it up between his index finger and his middle finger.

"You're so devious." Aqua sarcastically said while rolling her eyes.

"Ah elementary my dear Watson." Terra quoted as he held up his index finger. "You gotta create your own amusement." The brunette Keyblade Master said with a smirk as he crossed his arms over his chest. Once again Aqua rolled her eyes at the smirking Keyblade Master.

* * *

After the five minutes were up Terra called Sora back, the boy sadly had only found five of the slides upon finding out that his Master had personally hidden the slide Sora proceeded to glare at a nonchalant Terra who headed back to the tent.

Terra handed the slides to Jane who placed them into the projector, and pressed a button. A second later a picture of a castle was projected onto the wall. In a bit of a daze Sora stared at the picture, while Aqua and Terra shared a glance. 'The land of Departure…' They both sadly thought of their old home.

"…" Sora stared intently at the picture. 'It looks familiar, but how can that be, not long ago I had lived my entire life on an island…' He mused to himself.

"Are you alright Sora?" Donald asked.

"I'm fine…" He muttered to the duck.

The next picture was of a man giving a woman wearing an elegant dress a bouquet of flowers. At that picture Aqua gave a teasing glanced to Terra with a small smirk, while Terra with a small blush pretended not to notice. The next was what appeared to be a man wearing a white wig, and he seemed to be praying or something, then came a gorilla. The next slide shown was a ship, then finally two men fencing was the final picture.

After all the pictures had been shown Jane turned to Tarzan. "Well Tarzan?" she inquired.

"Where are my friends?" Sora asked. "Riku and Kairi." Sora waited for an answer, the one he received wasn't to his liking for the long haired man shook his head. "I thought tha-"

Sora was cut off as Mr. Claymore walked in. "That leaves one place." He said in his snobbish voice. "You see boy we have been in this jungle for quite a while not." He said as he walked to the other side of the Tent. "And in all the time we have been in this jungle we have not encountered any of these friends you are looking for." He paused for a second. "I If I had to guess I'd say that they are with the gorillas, but Tarzan consistently refuses to show us where the gorillas."

"Really Mr. Clayton Tarzan wouldn't hide-"Jane was cut off.

"Then take us there, take us to the gorillas." Mr. Clayton said. "Go-ril-las." He mocked the long haired man who turned to look at Sora, after a second he nodded.

"Tarzan are you sure about this?" Jane asked carefully.

"Tarzan go see Kerchak." Tarzan said referring to himself in Third person.

"Kerchak?"

"This Kerchak is most likely the gorilla's leader." Mr. Clayton said in response to Jane. "This is perfect; I'll go along as an escort." The man gave an un-honest smile. "After all the Jungle is quite the dangerous place."

"That won't be necessary." Terra said not liking that mans smile one bit. "I think the six of us are more than enough." He said to the snobbish man.

The man backed up a bit, not having expected to be challenged he decided it wasn't worth it; it would look suspicious to fight. "Very well then…" he said walking out of the tent.

Terra looked at the exit where the man had just left; he didn't like the vibe that man gave off. He stood frozen for a second when he felt it, 'Darkness.' He decided. 'Darkness lurks in that man's heart, but it's nowhere near as fierce as the dark that once controlled my heart, yet it's just as foul if not more so.' The Keyblade Master thought to himself.

* * *

"Master Terra…" Said man turned his attention to his young apprentice. "Are we going?" He asked in a way that reminded Terra of a little kid who couldn't wait to get a move on. Terra nodded, and the six walked out of the tent to hear a gun shot. The six rushed to the sound, walking into a clearing they saw the rock that was near the area where Terra, Donald, and Goofy had crashed landed. The six of them walked over to it, Sora spotted a small item on it. Picking it up he saw that it was a black pipe, the type you'd put tobacco in and smoke.

A second later the six heard the grass rustle, and saw the bamboo sticks shake a little. Sora dropped the pipe in surprise. Out jumped was a leopard, Sora gasped as he recognized it. "Back for round two?" He asked the growing oversized cat. The leopard jumped at Sora who rolled forward, thus dodging the attack.

"Thunder!" Donald shouted as Goofy charged the over grown house cat with his shield. Terra jumped over the dog-man and summoned his Keyblade mid air.

"Light!" The brown haired man shouted as he fired off Eraqus' favorite move, a sphere of light. The leopard dodged the lightening and the orb of light, but he didn't see Sora fire off a low level fire spell pro Dodge Roll.

Sabor roared in pain as it turned to the boy, Aqua taking this time fired off three blast of ice at the leopard. The three projectiles met their target, the cat roared in rage as it jumped back into the bamboo. The six stood still waiting for the leopard to jump back out.

Tarzan was quick before the leopard had even jumped out of the bamboo he had thrown his spear. A second after it left its hand Sabor jumped out of the bamboo to only be hit by the spear. "Sora, Donald!" Aqua shouted. The three casted Fire in union on the leopard.

The leopard flew backwards and fell to the ground, dead. Terra sighed as he dismissed his Keyblade. He felt his muscles relaxing, but before he could even think his body had already reacted. Summoning his Master Keeper Keyblade once again he found that he had sliced through a monkey like Heartless. Tarzan pulled his spear out of Sabor and looked around the area, while Sora and Aqua re-summoned their sliver and orange Keyblades respectively.

* * *

Back in the campsite Heartless had over run the whole place, the monkey like Heartless jumped up and down as they trashed the place. The sound of labored breath could be heard as s gorilla ran through the Heartless, he sled to the side and dashed forward into the tent into a surprised Jane. The two sat up as they felt the dizziness from being hit fading, looking up Jane gasped in surprise as to what she saw, she clutched the gorilla I her arms in fear.


	8. The Bonds of Friendship

**Well here is the next chapter; I hope you all have been enjoying this. I know I have, I want to say thank you to all of the people who have reviewed and faved this story, really you guys rock. It's the reviewers that keep me writing. Anyway enough of this sappy crap let's get on with it**

* * *

The Path I Continue to Walk

Chapter eight: The Bonds of Friendship

Sora, Donald, Goofy, Terra, Aqua, and Tarzan were surrounded by a huge number of Heartless. Sora and Terra were back to back, While Aqua was near Donald, the two held out their weapon of choice, just ready to start casting spell after spell. Goofy was surrounded, but not too far from Tarzan who held his spear out ready to strike at any sudden movements made by the opposing party.

Aqua felt that it was odd, in the whole time that they had been here up till now there had been no sign of Heartless, now it was Heartless central. Finally one Heartless made its move, Tarzan was quick, he jumped the Heartless before it could hit Goofy, who charged another Heartless.

"Blizzard!" Aqua yelled as she casted Blizzaga on a nearby monkey like Heartless.

"Fire!" Donald yelled as he fired off a simple fire spell at a Shadow Heartless not far away.

At that time Sora charged forward using Sonic Blade he dashed forward with his Keyblade forward, "Ha!" He yelled out every time his Keyblade made contact with a Heartless. With a final strike and the yell of "This is it!" He had finished his assault.

"Sora! Duck!" Terra yelled as Sora came out of his Sonic Blade combo, Sora did as instructed and Terra charged forward slicing the Shadow Heartless that tired to jump Sora. Entering Critical Impact Terra charged forward to other Heartless, slashing and hacking with brute strength at any of the countless Heartless that came his way, after using Solo Arcanum Terra entered Rock breaker.

"Thunder!" Aqua and Donald yelled as the former casted Thunderga Shot and the latter casted Thunder.

Terra roared as he smashed Master Keeper into a cluster of Shadow Heartless. While Sora was using another Sonic Blade attack, the younger brunette noted that the numbers were starting to dwindle.

"Gather!" Aqua shouted out as Terra charged to where she had casted Magnerga. Jumping up Terra used the finishing move of Rock breaker; three giant pillars of earth shot out from under him and crashed into the gathered Heartless.

Before the group could even dismiss their weapons a scream was heard. "Jane!" Tarzan yelled now running for the campsite where the scream had came from. The rest of the group followed behind the jungle man, when they got to the campsite they saw that it was overrun with Heartless, Blue Rhapsodies, Shadows, Soldiers, Power wilds, and Bouncy wilds. They were all over the place, the Power wilds jumped up and down as they noticed the new comers.

* * *

Seeing a Soldier charge his apprentice Terra quickly sliced it in half before Sora even had time to attack. "Sora, you go check on Jane, Aqua and I can take these guys." Terra calmly said as he slashed at a nearby Heartless. Sora seemed a bit hesitant in following his Master's orders. After seeing Sora's hesitance Terra snapped. "Sora what are you still doing here? Go." He firmly ordered. The young Keyblade wielder nodded and ran off with Donald, Goofy, and Tarzan.

Aqua and Terra charged the Heartless, Terra fired off a Fission Firaga at a group of Power Wilds. The attack exploded upon contact taking out the small group, While Aqua dashed into the air and charged the Heartless in an aura of ice, Absolute Zero. She pounded in all the nearby Heartless, most were just destroyed upon being hit by the ice, after a few seconds she stopped flying around them and paused in mid air. With a shout she dove into a near Heartless, ice shot up from her hitting the ground. Jumping back up she quickly dived onto another Heartless, she repeated the process two more times, before landing on a small group heading after Terra. Ice shot up all around her with this final burst.

Using Blitz Terra jumped up into the air and came down with his black simple Keyblade onto a Heartless. Then he jumped after another Heartless, the Power Wild he hit stumbled back, and Terra finished him off with his third strike. "This is it!" He yelled as he sliced it in half, a single Heart floated up as the Heartless disintegrated.

Aqua sighed as they kept coming and coming finally tired of them all she shouted. "Enough!" placing her orange Keyblade in front of her a orange ball appeared it stayed in place for a moment before it started to gain size, during this time the Heartless had noticed what she seemed to be scheming in a rush they started to charge after the young bluenette. "Farewell…" Aqua softly said as she fired off a big ball of fire into the air. "Mega Flare!" she shouted.

"Aqua, are you crazy?" Terra yelled as he Dashed away from where the catastrophic explosion was about to take place, the ball exploded upon coming into contact with the oxygen in the air setting off a chain reaction.

* * *

During this time Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Tarzan entered the tent that Jane had been in when they had left earlier. "Jane!" Tarzan said upon entering. They saw that the tent was completely empty.

"Where's Jane?" Sora quietly pondered as he looked around the tent. Suddenly Tarzan perked up and turned toward the exit of the tent.

"Is something the matter Tarzan?" Goofy asked the jungle man.

"Something coming." The man said in his deep voice. "Jane, danger." He simply said. He appeared to be sniffing the air. "Jane near…" He trailed off as he begun to sniff again. "Near tree house." He said referring to the house that Sora and Aqua had crashed into, well more like Sora crashed into.

"Sounds like this will be dangerous alright…" Donald trailed off.

"But we need to go regardless, come on!" Sora said as he exited the tent. Upon leaving the tent they saw that Terra and Aqua had taken care of the Heartless. "Master!" Sora called out as he headed to the two Keyblade Masters.

"Sora, where's Jane?" A tired looking Aqua questioned Sora as he stopped in front of her and Terra.

"We think the tree house." Was Sora's reply. At Sora's reply Terra raised an eyebrow, while Aqua nodded and slowly walked toward the tree house with everyone in tow.

* * *

They soon found themselves in the trees; Aqua, who had recovered from her fatigue after taking a ether that Terra had actually forced her to take despite her protest, held the front as they climbed up higher and higher eventually they came to what appeared to be a small area with overgrowing vines around. Terra and Aqua noted a big black fruit looking 'thing' on the tree that is used to hold up the tree house. As they walked into the small clearing the group took note of an odd shaped fruit, before anyone could comment they found themselves surrounded by a bunch of Power Wilds.

"Freeze!" Aqua yelled as she fired off a Blizzaga at a lone Power Wild. Terra sled to a nearby group of five Power Wilds and slashed at them with his Master Keeper. Sora quickly summoned Kingdom Key and fired off a simple fire spell at a Power Wild, while Donald fired off a Thunder spell at two Heartless. Goofy charged a Heartless coming in on Sora's left side. While Tarzan threw his spear that he had been using to whack at the Heartless at the fruit above them.

"It got smaller?" Aqua mumbled under her breath as she saw a small gas being released from the fruit. 'That's it!' She thought to herself. "Terra, Sora we need to attack the fruit, it's enticing the Heartless here!" She shouted as she jumped over at the strange fruit, with a roar she hacked and slashed at it, yearning for it to break opening.

"Sora!" Terra nodded to Sora, who ran towards him, grabbing his apprentice's wrist he flung Sora toward the fruit, Sora using the momentum slammed his Keyblade into the weird looking fruit.

Aqua landing on her feet quickly raised her Keyblade above her head. "Thunder!" She shouted. Due to the strain of the attacks the weird fruit was destroyed, it busted open and released a gas that caused the Heartless to evaporate.

* * *

After the fighting had ceased, the group headed to where Jane was she had a small gorilla hugging her; it seemed to be a bit frightened. "Clayton, he came to the tent…and that's the last thing I can remember." She said after the group had inquired as to what happened to her.

"Clayton…" Aqua mumbled.

"Clayton?" Donald asked.

"Gorillas trapped Terk ran." Tarzan said as it appeared to be translating for the gorilla in Jane's lap.

"Those gorillas need help…" Jane said quietly to the group, who all nodded to each other.

The group quickly made their way back to the campsite, moving fast they sled down the trees the same way Aqua, Sora, and Tarzan had earlier. It was a…interesting experience for the group as the duck sled down on his behind, while screaming in fear and as Goofy sled down standing on his shield.

Before they knew it they landed in the campsite, where they were surrounded by a group of Heartless noticeably smaller than the earlier groups they had faced. Sora, Terra, and Aqua made quick work of the Heartless.

The group headed to where they had faced the leopard from earlier, seeing that no one was there they headed further in to the jungle, coming up to an unpleasant scene, Clayton aiming a rifle at a small group of gorillas. "Stop!" Sora yelled as he skidded to a halt. At that the man wielding the rifle turned to the small group that dared to oppose him. "Clayton why are you doing this to the gorillas!" Sora demanded.

"Not Clayton!" Tarzan yelled. "*&&X%!" He spoke that unknown word in 'gorillianese.' He then repeated his earlier statement. "Not Clayton!"

Seeing this as this opportunity the gorillas took it as a chance to sneak away. The snobbish man started to walk towards the group. At that same time Terra noted that a small group of Heartless were behind them, thus preventing their escape. "Fire!" Aqua shouted out, taking the initiative and starting the battle.

* * *

At the first sign of attack the group of six broke apart and the fight began, Sora rolled forward, coming out of his roll he started slashing Clayton who had staggered a bit from Aqua's unexpected attack. Terra at this time slashed at a nearby Heartless as Goofy charged a monkey like Heartless preparing to attack the male Keyblade Master from behind.

"Gather!" Aqua shouted as she held up her Keyblade. A ball of red and blue appeared above her and all Heartless near her were lifted off the ground.

"Thunder!" Donald shouted. After a second a stream of lighting hit the gathered Heartless.

Meanwhile things between Sora, Tarzan, and "Clayton" were starting to heat up. Sora charged the gun toting man with his simple Keyblade, while Tarzan dashed to the side and went to flank the man from the left. Clayton having expected this dodged Tarzan with such skill that Sora had doubted that he had possessed upon meeting the man. Clayton fired a shot at Sora who dodged at the last second. It was then that Tarzan's spear found its way to Clayton's back. The snobbish man roared in pain as he tried to pull the spear from his back.

Clayton started to back up as Sora and Tarzan slowly cornered him, he had his gun trained on them, but he saw that Terra, Aqua, Donald, and Goofy had finished off the Heartless. Terra and the others joined Sora and Tarzan and surrounded Clayton. Suddenly the wall behind Clayton exploded from behind him to reveal a giant lizard-like Heartless. Clayton trained his gun on Tarzan who was in the middle of rushing him, but then he slightly turned his gun to the person standing in between Sora and Terra. He fired; the sound was enough to stop Tarzan in his tracks. Turning he saw in what appeared to be in slow motion, the bullet heading for a surprised bluenette.

Aqua knew that she needed to move, but found her feet planted firmly on the ground. Aqua could feel her heart hammering in her chest, but she still couldn't find the will to move. Then she felt two strong arms wrap around her and pulled her to the ground.

* * *

As the shock faded, Aqua found herself looking up at the clear blue sky. She took note of the beautiful trees around; the wildlife of this world was simply a sight to see. She found it somewhat ironic that in such a wonderful and beautiful place could house such an evil person. She felt the person above her was taking in shallow gasp of breath. Looking at him she saw that Terra had saved her. "Thank you, Terra." She softly said with a small smile. She gasped as she finally saw it, a dark crimson colored liquid flowing out of his body. He had been hit to save her, why? 'Because he loves me…' Was her answer, she felt warmth from that answer, but she felt pure rage at the man who had shot him, Aqua hadn't felt such rage since she heard that Terra had willingly helped Maleficent take the heart of a princess, or when Yen Sid accused Terra of assisting Xehanort in killing their Master. With a roar she pulled herself off the ground, summoning her orange Ocean's Crest Keyblade mid run as she charged Clayton.

"AHHHH!" Aqua roared as she slashed at the giant lizard-like Heartless that controlled Clayton. Holding her orange Keyblade in front of her a purple ball filled with orange lights appeared, "Ragnarok!" she screamed as the ball busted open and the lights found their way to Clayton. "HAAA!" Aqua shrieked as she continued to slash at the man; all Aqua could see was red.

At this time Sora had dropped to his knees, he couldn't believe it. Seeing his Master like this was unimaginable. Ever since Terra had taken him and Riku on as pupils, the two had always agreed that he was invincible, no matter what they could never bring their Master down during a spar. Even after they had learned team work to the point to where they didn't even need to talk to each other during battle, they still couldn't beat Terra. Their Master was just too powerful. Sure they improved and could actually push Terra to somewhat take them seriously in a spar, but they both decided that Master Terra couldn't be beaten, yet here he lay, in a pool of his own blood.

'Please.' Sora thought desperately. 'Please stand up, Master. You need to stand up, nothing can beat you, you're…invincible.' Sora silently and desperately said. Terra couldn't go down like this, he had always been strong. For Sora he had been his rock throughout most of his life. Especially when his father had died of illness, during that time Sora came to see him as something akin to a second father. 'Stand up!' he yelled in his mind as tears started to flow to his eyes. Sora punched the ground imagining that it was Clayton's face. Sora wished that he could be strong like Terra and Aqua. Right now she was fighting a giant lizard in the name of her love, and what was Sora doing? Crying for his Master/father figure like a child, what he really wanted to do was be able to get mad and start slashing like crazy, but he couldn't find the strength to, all he felt was numbness.

Sora then felt someone shaking his shoulder. "Sora! Sora get up we need to help Terra." At that Sora turned to see that Donald was shaking him. The duck looked a little surprised that the boy's eyes were red and it was easily evident that he was crying. Donald gave a sympathetic expression.

"How?" Sora said in a voice like a small child. "How can we help him?" He asked softly.

"How do you feel about learning a new spell?" Donald asked a bit mischievously as he pulled a small booklet he stole from Aqua that was titled "Magic for dummies." Sora smiled as he sniffed and wiped his eyes.

* * *

Aqua was still swiping at the giant lizard; jumping backwards she fired off a Fission Firaga at the Heartless. "Freeze!" She yelled as she fired off three Blizzaraga's. The lizards arm was now incased in ice, trying to free its arm it started to pound its arm into the ground praying for the ice to break. Aqua took this time to start a second assault. "Burn in hell!" She screamed at the top of her lungs as she tossed her Keyblade and was engulfed in a storm of fire. She charged the lizard-like Heartless during its moment of weakness.

The giant Heartless moaned in pain as the fire burnt its flesh, Aqua was showing no mercy today. The bluenette jumped into the air once her burning inferno had gone out she started using Magic Hour. Reappearing above the Heartless she slammed down upon him engulfed in a pure white aura. After raining down on it about six times the Heartless then fell on top of Clayton.

Aqua was panting heavily; she had gone out to the point of it being overkill for such an opponent of that low of a caliber. She dismissed Ocean's Crest as she fell to her knees; she felt her eyes watering at the thought of losing Terra. 'Not so soon after we've finally been reunited.' Not so soon after their relationship has just barely begun.

"You know pretty girls shouldn't cry." A familiar voice said.

_

* * *

_

Flashback

_It was a sunny day in the Land of Departure, Eraqus two young pupils were having a small sparing match, no magic allowed. Aqua cart wheeled away from Terra just barely dodging his Quick Blitz attack; right now she had been playing the defensive for almost the whole battle. Magic was her forte, her swordsmen ship wasn't bad, but against Terra she didn't stand a chance. Coming out of her cartwheel she parried Terra's slash, and then went in with her own attack._

_Aqua didn't expect for Terra to dodge her attack, she didn't expect to be taken out so early, and she sure as hell didn't expect Terra to apologize for winning. "Owww!" Aqua yelled as she flew in the air and landed on the pavement. _

_Instead of his usual gloating Terra was by her side with concern on his apologetic face. "Aqua, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it. Are you alright? Should I call the Master?" He asked the bluenette. _

"_I'm fine Terra…" Aqua said as she tried to get up, only to clutch her side in agony she closed her eyes, trying to deal with the pain. _

_Terra looked at the girl for a second, then over to the entrance to the castle he nodded to himself when he saw that the Master was nowhere in sight. "Cure." He muttered. Aqua at that time opened her blue eyes and stared at Terra who was concentrating intently on her side. The green glow his hands emitted touched her side; the bluenette blushed slightly at the contact. _

_After the glow had left his hands Terra stood up and offered Aqua a hand. With a smile he wiped the tears she hadn't even noticed. "Pretty girls shouldn't cry." The eleven year old Terra warmly said. At that Aqua smiled and fought the blush creeping to her cheeks. _

_End flashback_

* * *

"You know, pretty girls shouldn't cry." Terra said was he walked over to Aqua. The bluenette in questioned tried to speak but no words came to her.

Sora looked on at them tiredly with a small smile; he lightly punched the duck next to him and thank Donald, who smiled at his friend.

"Terra!" Aqua yelled finally finding her voice; she reached out and hugged the Keyblade Master. Aqua could feel tears still coming out of her eyes, though this time they were tears of joy. Terra stepped back feeling that she was crying, with a smile he lightly grabbed her chin.

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again, pretty girl shou-. " Terra was cut off as Aqua smashed her lips against his. Terra wrapped his arms around Aqua and kissed her back, comforting his lover.

Pulling out of the kiss, she gave Terra a questioning look. Noticing the looking he gave her an eyebrow raise. "How did you-?"

Predicting his girlfriend's question Terra cut her off. "Let's just say that Sora is a quick learner." He said pulling a small booklet that said, "Magic for dummies." The bluenette smiled as she made to grab for the booklet only to feel Terra crash his lips against hers, Aqua moaned slightly as she gladly returned and deepened the kiss.

Sora coughed as he watched the scene, not that he wasn't happy to see that his Master was alright and that Aqua was happy as well, they needed to get a move on. He sighed as he grabbed the booklet that Terra had given to the bluenette for her fourteenth birthday as a joke gift, from his Master's hand. 'Might come in handy later.' Sora thought to himself as he pocketed the book.

"That's so sweet."Goofy said to himself as he watched the scene and hugged the unsuspecting duck and boy.

"Whack finish up you two, we still need to get moving!" Donald yelled breaking the lovers from their kiss. With a sigh Terra and Aqua reluctantly pulled away from each other and walked back over to the group.

* * *

After a second the group then heard footsteps coming their way, they turned to see the group of gorillas coming their way. A bigger gorilla stopped right in front of Sora, this gorilla seemed to be the head chief or whatever. The gorilla then reached out and grabbed Sora who protested at being gorilla-handled. With a roar the gorilla launched the boy up to the air. With a grunt Sora landed on the ground a bit higher up.

"Sora!" Terra yelled as he charged the wall, he jumped up and landed where Sora had landed, a second later Donald and Goofy went flying while Aqua jumped to the air, then preformed a double jump, while Tarzan scaled the wall.

Tarzan turned back to the group of gorillas and made direct eye contact with the head gorilla. The head gorilla, apparently the one to be Kerchak nodded at Tarzan and walked away with his small pack.

The group looked out and saw in the distance a waterfall. "Tarzan home." The jungle man said.

After taking in the sight of the waterfall the group headed into a small cave not far away as it being the only place they could go. They soon found themselves behind the actual waterfall; jumping platform to platform they soon made their way to an opening further in the cave.

Walking in the group saw a small glowing sphere in the room. Terra briefly noted the sounds of footsteps coming their way; out of the corner of his eye Terra saw that it was Terk and Jane.

"*&&X%." Tarzan said.

"This is your home?" Sora questioned. "But that means." He was cut off as Tarzan silenced him.

The group listened intently as they heard the waterfalls echo. "The waterfalls." Jane said. "They're echoing all the way here."

"Friends there. See friends." Tarzan said.

"Oh now I get it, *&&X% means heart." Jane said. "Friends in our hearts…" The young woman said.

"Heart…" Tarzan said now knowing the English word.

"So that's what it meant." Sora said a bit downed at the fact that Riku and Kairi were not here.

"Friends, same heart." Tarzan said. "Clayton, lose heart." The jungle man continued. "No heart, no see friends. No heart, no friends."

"Remember Sora, never forget your friends, I know I haven't." Terra said fingering the small blue Wayfinder around his neck as Aqua pulled out the orange Wayfinder from her coat pocket.

Sora looked over to Donald and smiled; they both had already made up while they tried to quickly and desperately learn the spell cure. "Friends for life." The brunette said with a smile.

"Friends for life." The duck repeated.

"Yeah." Goofy said grabbing the two in a big hug. "All for one, right?"

* * *

"Sora look." Aqua said pointing forward. The group looked and saw that the glowing thing had been a group of butterflies covering up a Keyhole big enough for the Keyblade to fit in. Terra was briefly reminded of when he created Castle Oblivion.

Sora felt his arm shot forward, his Keyblade appeared in a flash and pointed to the Keyhole. A bunch of stars gathered at the sphere that appeared at the tip of the Key. And a thin beam of light shot out forward to the Keyhole. A locking sound was heard, and then the Keyhole disappeared. But not before shooting out a Gummi piece.

"A Gummi?" Donald questioned almost disbelievingly.

"But it's not the king's." Goofy said sadly.

Terk looked over at the duck and stared at him for a second. Then Terk nudged him, "Looks to me like someone has an admirer." Aqua said teasingly to the mage.

Donald backed away from the gorilla. "No, no, no, no!" He said. "Daisy would kill me!" At that the group laughed at the expense of the duck-mage.

The group escorted Jane back to the tent in case of any wondering Heartless; luckily they all had seemed to have been wiped from this world. Upon coming back the group decided that they would leave as there was nothing left for them in this world. "Well we need to get going." Terra said to Jane.

"Where is your guy's ship anyway?" The young woman questioned.

At hat Aqua and Terra glanced at each other nervously.

"Well uh…Not too far away from here." Donald said nervously.

Tarzan stared at Sora for a second before speaking. "Sora, Tarzan, friends." He said. He then handed a small item to Sora, Aqua and Terra glanced at each other knowing what it was.

'A Keychain.' Terra and Aqua both still had all of their old Keychains they had collected during their adventures, Though Terra can't use his anymore, for Master Keeper wasn't his original Keyblade, despite that fact he had grown attached to his Master's old Keyblade, he still wasn't the original owner of Master Keeper, thus his Keychains were almost useless, he briefly wondered if Sora would be able to make use of them.

The group soon left, and made their way to the Lanes in-between off to their next destination, Wonderland, the closet world to them and also the only one they could go to , for their ship was still damaged. Terra sighed as Donald took the driver's seat and blasted them off the world. "Here we go again…" He muttered as he felt Aqua grab his hand, he gave hers a small reassuring squeeze.

**

* * *

**

Wow isn't that sweet. There isn't a dry eye in this place. XD kidding.

**Anyway this chapter wasn't easy to write, I didn't plan on Terra's near-death exp, but it kinda wrote itself in. and I'm glad I did. This makes for some REALLY good Character Progress.**


	9. Terra's reminder

**Well I'm updating a bit early, right now I'm home sick from school. And I've got nothing to do, so I figured while I'm writing my next chapter for Evangelion Re-Loaded I'd upload this. Anyway I'm not too fond of this chapter, I honestly think I could do better, but this was all I was able to get. So enjoy.**

* * *

The Path I Continue to Walk

Chapter nine: Terra's reminder

Terra watched as they flew through the Lanes in Between, they had only just left the jungle a few hours ago, sadly the ship was still damaged from their earlier crash. They really needed to land soon, and hopefully find someone who could repair their ship. If Terra had to guess their best bet would be returning to Traverse Town, someone there would most likely know how to fix their ship.

"The Gummi block that came out of that hole…" Sora commented. "It's nothing like the others; I wonder what it's for." The young brunette mused.

"No idea." The white duck said.

"Squall could possibly know." Aqua commented.

"That was my thought exactly; we might want to head back to Traverse Town." Terra said.

At that Donald prepared to set in the coordinates, but Sora seemed to have other plans. "I wanna pilot it!" He said taking the wheel.

"Here we go again." The three sane occupants muttered to themselves.

"Cut that out!" Donald ordered.

"Come on I'm the Keyblade Master." Sora stated confidently.

"No you're not." Terra said to his pupil. At that Sora stopped what he was doing and looked over to his Master who looked at Sora with a stern look. "It takes more than wielding the Keyblade to become a Master, it took Aqua and I years before we became Masters." Terra explained as Aqua nodded.

"Fine then, I'm a Master to be." Sora corrected himself.

"I don't care who you are! No means no!" The duck said as he and the brunette fought over the wheel again.

"It never ends…" Aqua muttered under her breath. The bluenette let out a shriek as she felt the ship shake, at that Terra grabbed her hand. Aqua looked to her boyfriend, and smiled. She hoped that this time if they did crash land they wouldn't be separated again.

* * *

At least this time upon landing it wasn't a crash landing, the group of five felt themselves slowly falling. Terra for some reason thought he heard the sound of a clock ticking. Terra and Aqua landed gracefully on their feet, while Goofy landed on his feet as well. Sora and Donald's landing wasn't as smooth, Sora landed hard on the floor stomach first, while Donald landed on top of him.

"Oh, My fur and whiskers!" A white rabbit wearing a red jacket, gray pants, and holding a giant pocket watch yelled as he ran over Donald and Sora who grunted as he didn't even pause. "I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" The white rabbit yelled. He huffed and puffed as he sprinted away, looking at his watch he panicked even more. "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! I'm here, I should be there." The white rabbit said as his pace increased even more. "I'm later, I'm later, I'm late!" he yelled as he left the room. "The queen will surely have my head!"

At that Terra pulled at his collar, 'Yikes.' He thought to himself as the group made to follow the rabbit. They soon found themselves in a odd room, well even odder than the first room they were in. in the room the group noted that there was a bed, a fireplace, a table with a single chair and a tiny door.

"There he goes." Aqua commented as she saw the rabbit go through the tiny door.

"How in the world did he fit in there?" Sora asked as he got on his knees and examined the door. "It's too small." He commented.

"No you're simply too big." The doorknob said back.

'That's not something you see every day.' Both Aqua and Terra said in their minds. In all of their adventures they had never seen a talking doorknob.

"It talks?" Donald squawked in surprise.

"Must you be so loud?" The doorknob inquired annoyed. "You woke me up." He lazily said.

"Good morning." Goofy said with a small wave.

"Good night." The doorknob responded with a bit of an attitude. "I need more sleep." He said with a yawn.

"Hold it right there." Terra firmly said. "How are we supposed to shrink like that rabbit?" The male Keyblade Master asked.

"I'd recommend trying the bottle…over there" The doorknob said falling asleep.

It was then that the group noted two small bottles on the table; walking over to it Aqua picked one up and examined it. Taking a sip Aqua found herself shrinking. "Whoa!" She said as she saw that the room was much bigger.

Terra saw something out of the corner of his eye; behind the bed he saw a hole. "Hmmm." He looked to his apprentice and friends. "Sora you try to potion, I'm going to open a path." Terra said as he walked towards the bed.

For once Sora didn't question his Master, he was egger to test this concoction. He chugged a good deal of it, before handing it to Donald, which after a second the potion activated and Sora shrunk to the size of a mouse.

Terra gripped the bed and pushed it forward, his suspicions were correct, behind the bed had been a hole. Walking back to the group he saw that Goofy was drinking the potion, after Goofy finished it Terra grabbed it and took a drink as well.

Now that they were small enough they could head to where the white rabbit had gone, Terra noted upon shrinking that there were a group of Heartless waiting for them, these Heartless weren't too hard, if anything Sora could have handled them blindfolded by himself.

* * *

The group after entering the hole found themselves in an odd forest; they could see a bunch of Card People. If Terra had to guess they were possibly soldiers, or something akin to a police force. Terra noted the sound of a trumpet going off. Looking forward they saw that a trial seemed to have just started.

"Court is now in session!" The rabbit said a bit out of breath.

"I'm on trial?" a cute blonde haired girl wearing a blue dress asked. "But why?" She inquired as to what the charges were.

The rabbit ignoring the girl continued. "Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts, presiding!" Terra noted a somewhat overweight woman sat at the top of the stand, he'd reason that this is "The Queen of Hearts." It seemed that she would also be playing judge.

"This girl is the culprit. No doubt about that." The queen stated. "And the reason is…" The queen trailed off for a second. "Because I say so, that's why!" She finished.

'Oh boy…' Aqua grumbled in thought. 'Another nut case, send her to the loony been.'

"That is quite unfair!" The blonde protested.

"Have you anything to say in your defense?" The queen/judge inquired.

"Why yes I do!" The accused said. "This is a mistrial; I've done absolutely nothing wrong!" The blonde proclaimed. "You might be queen," She continued to dig her grave…er defend her case. "But I'm afraid that doesn't give you the right to be so…so mean!" The girl said.

"Silence!" The queen ordered. "You dare defy me!" She demanded as she slammed her palms on the stand.

"Guys…" Sora trailed off.

'Oh that can't be good, Sora please don't be reckless here.' Terra mentally pleaded with his apprentice.

"We need to help her out." Sora said.

"Yeah, but the-" Donald was cut off.

"Sora don't you remember what I told you?" Terra inquired. "We are not to get to involved with the affairs of other worlds, the duty of a Keybearer is to bring peace and keep the darkness at bay from worlds." Terra reminded his apprentice. "I want to help her out to, but this does not fall under our responsibility." Terra regretfully said.

"The court finds the defendant…" The group heard the trial continue. "Guilty as charged!" The queen stated. "For the crimes of assault and attempted theft of my heart…"

At that Terra perked up, he remembered when he had been forced to steal a Princess of Heart's heart, that damned witch, Maleficent. "Change of plans…" He mumbled to Sora. For this did fall under their jurisdiction, it was most likely the Heartless. Terra couldn't let someone be killed for something the Heartless did, so he would be bending the rules ever so slightly.

"Off with her hea-!" The Queen of Hearts was interrupted as Terra cut her off.

"Hold it!" Terra said as he passed the card soldiers with the group right behind him.

"Who are you?" The Queen of Hearts demanded. "How dare you interfere with my court?" She inquired.

"I apologize…" Terra said trying to be polite; he could see that this queen's fuse was quite short so Terra would have to tread carefully. "But this girl is not the one you seek." The male Keyblade Master stated. "The true culprit still runs free, you almost sent an innocent to her death." The brunette calmly stated.

"That's right The Hearte-." Goofy was cut off as Donald clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Yea…" Sora said walking forward. "She isn't the one who committed the crime." The Keybearer said.

"Nonsense." The Queen of Hearts accused not believing that she could ever do or be wrong. "Have you any proof?" She asked. While this was happing an ace of spades card solider had grabbed the blonde and locked her up. "Bring me evidence of Alice's innocence!" The queen demanded. "If you don't it's off with all of your heads!" The queen stated. "Gather as much or little evidence as you please. Report back here once you have done so."

* * *

At that the group made their way to the Lotus Forest, upon walking in Sora felt that something was off, like they were being watched. At that the group saw what appeared to be the head of a cat dancing. It appeared and it reappeared all around the forest. The cat grinned at the visitors, as it bounced on the floor. Now literally standing on the cats head was its body, the cat had stripes, pink and purple. Its yellow eyes were wide and its white teeth in a big grin.

As the cat placed its head on its body Terra verbally inquired as to who the cat is. "Who indeed?" The cat's sly voice asked. "Poor Alice. Soon to lose her head and she's not guilty of a thing." The cat said to the group.

"Do you have evidence on which the culprit is?" Aqua asked the grinning cat. "If so then tell us." She firmly and politely demanded.

"The Cheshire cat always has the answers, but he doesn't always tell." The cat said referring to himself in third person. "The answer, the culprit, the cat all lay in darkness."

"Darkness." The young Keyblade Master mumbled to himself.

At that the cat appeared on Terra's shoulder. "Yes Darkness, much like how you once laid there." The cat said as it disappeared.

"Wait!" Sora yelled as the cat faded.

The cat's voice filled the forest. "They've already left the forest. I won't tell which exit." The cat continued on with its riddles. "There are four pieces of evidence in all. Three are a cinch to find. The fourth is a bit tricky. A big reward if you find them all." The cat's voice then faded as well.

"Can we trust him?" Sora quietly whispered.

"To trust, or not to trust?" The cat reappeared quoting one famous line. "I trust you'll decide!" The cat said as he disappeared once again. Once the cat had disappeared Terra noticed the abundance of Heartless stalking the forest, there were Shadows, Soldiers, and Yellow Operas. (Oh my!) At this Sora summoned his Jungle Key Keyblade, after Terra had explained the concepts of Keychains Sora was more than happy to test it out by bashing a few Heartless in.

Deciding that they could take all of the Heartless out faster if they split up Sora opted for going along with his Master. Aqua insisted on going by herself and Donald and Goofy decided to go with each other, while they were separated they would not only defeat the Heartless, but find evidence on Alice's innocents.

* * *

While Sora and Terra walked through the forest they noted that the Heartless were quite easily subdue able, this gave Sora the time to ask Terra something that had been on his mind for a little bit. "Master?" Sora started out. The older of the duo turned to his apprentice and nodded encouraging him to go on. "One thing I wanted to ask is that how come you haven't taught me any magic like I've seen Aqua use?" The brunette asked. At that Terra was a bit surprised at this question, not giving him time to answer Sora continued. "I mean you said that you two had the same Master, so you should be able to teach me those cool magic attacks I've seen Aqua perform." He commented with logic.

"Well Sora the thing is that I was never the best at magic, ask Aqua how my first attempts went and she'll tell you that I was the reason why Eraqus kept a fire extinguisher around." Terra grumbled the last part to himself more than to Sora.

"Who?" Sora inquired.

"Eraqus, my Master." The older brunette softly spoke.

"That's another thing I wanted to know, whatever happened to him?" The young Keybearer asked. At that Terra paused and stopped in his tracks. Sora seeing his Master's expression of sadness instantly panicked. "I mean you don't have to tell me if you don't want, I shouldn't have even asked." Sora said putting his hands up.

"No, no it's not that…it's just a long story." Terra said as he started walking again, he noted that this forest was pretty thick, and that no Heartless had made themselves visible since splitting up. "It was…" He sighed. "It was all my fault." Terra sadly stated.

"What was your fault?" The young brunette inquired clearly confused. "I mean I'm sure that even you have done a few things you're not proud of, we all have. I'm not proud of how Riku and I acted when we met Kairi, I mean come on!" The brunette's voice rose as he threw his hands up in exaggeration. "Two childhood friends letting a girl come in between them is just stupid, right?" The boy asked with a smile.

"Not as stupid as killing your own Master…" Terra said walking past the young Keybearer and in the process drawing his Master's old Keyblade and slicing a small Soldier Heartless that had just appeared, looking down at the simple skeleton styled Keyblade Terra sighed. 'This Keyblade is the reminder of what I did, I'm sorry…Master.' Terra charged the Heartless with Sora right behind him. Thus signaling the end of the current conversation as more Heartless showed up.


	10. The Wise words of the student

**Hey there fans of Kingdom Hearts, sorry about the late update, been kinda busy. Anyway…enjoy.**

* * *

The Path I Continue to Walk

Chapter Ten: The "Wise" words of the student

Aqua sighed as she found herself in the bizarre room, upon going solo in her search for evidence to clear Alice's good name she had taken to the trees, and jumped from platform to platform only to find herself in this room from earlier. She noted that the doorknob was out cold, so no help there.

Another more important fact was the huge number of Shadow Heartless here. They all slowly made their way to her. She wordlessly drew her Ocean's Crest Keyblade with the intent of showing them what a true Keyblade Master could do. With a yell she charged them, as she fought the Heartless it gave her time to think.

Ever since reuniting with Terra she had been happier than she had in years. Their relationship had taken off, they had admitted their feelings and now they were finally able to have a bit of peace between them without having to fear rejection. 'But it's not perfect…' The bluenette thought to herself as she fired off a Thunderga on the numerous Heartless that were starting to surround her.

She had noticed that Terra still seemed to be holding some demons inside him; she had seen it at the Olympus Coliseum. He seemed to be for the most part alright, but she suspected that he still felt some lingering hate for Xehanort and shame for what he had done to Eraqus and the worst part of it was that it almost appeared like he had been bottling it up. Though a good deal of weight had seemed to have been lifted off his shoulders after meeting with some old friends, Zack, Phil, and Hercules he seemed to be a bit better, but she could tell that something was still eating him up.

"Ven…" She softly said as she sliced a Blue Rhapsody. She was sad that he couldn't come with her and the two animals. But she could understand Mickey's reason, someone needed to watch the castle in his home world, he just wanted to protect what's important to him. Sadly though they're little family had to remain somewhat broken. Sora was a delight; she rather enjoyed becoming friends with Terra's apprentice. He is just like how Ven was ten years ago, always smiling, not even a hint of darkness seemed to reside in the boy. "I wonder how Ven and Sora would get along if they met." The blue haired woman mused to herself. That would be a sight to see, they are so like each other that people would probably think that they're brothers or something.

She had seen how close Sora is to Terra, she could see that the kid looked up to him a great deal. Aqua wondered if the other apprentice was like that. She had yet to meet this second apprentice but if she had to guess it was probably that sliver haired boy she had met years ago, Terra had passed on to him the power to one day wield his Keyblade. The bluenette sighed as she saw a Large Body appear, her day was about to become more stressful.

After a series of slash attacks to the back, and a few Fira's to the face the Large Body was killed. 'Pain in the ass…' The bluenette mentally grumbled as she walked back to the "court case." She had received two pieces of evidence to defend Alice. 'Claw Marks and Stench". She was sure that this along with what Terra, Sora, Donald, and Goofy had found would prove Alice's innocents.

The bluenette was a bit surprised that it had been Terra to stand up and try to save Alice, not that she wasn't glad, but as Keyblade Masters they cannot dwell into the affairs of other worlds. Of course though if Heartless are involved then it is their business so technically they weren't breaking any rules. 'Just bending them to the limit.'

* * *

Upon reuniting the group had gathered all of the following, The Claw Marks and Stench evidence which Aqua had found in the bizarre room. The Footprints founded by Donald and Goofy, and Sora and Terra had found nothing, though Aqua noted that the two were oddly silent. Now back in the "Court room" the group placed their evidence in front of The Queen of Hearts.

"Now show me what you have found." The queen ordered as the Terra and Sora took the stand. Aqua placed her two pieces of evidence in front of the queen as did Goofy and Donald with their own evidence. "Cards!" The queen bellowed. "Bring forth my evidence!" She ordered her soldiers. At that the queen brought forth two boxes with evidence contained within them. The queen looked at the five pieces of evidence in front of her. "Hmm," She mused to herself. "Checking all of them would only waste my time." She said after a second. "Alright then, I'll let you chose which piece of evidence will be checked, and from there we will know who the culprit is." The Queen of Mean…er Hearts decided as she pointed to the blue haired Keyblade Master.

"After all the trouble of going to collect it?" Aqua mumbled disbelievingly under her breath as she walked forward.

The queen near to losing her temper yelled at the blue haired beauty. "You dare object?" The Queen of Hearts demanded. "Do you wish to lose that pretty little head of yours?" The mean queen questioned nonchalantly. At the shake of the bluenette's head, "Then choose one box." She firmly ordered.

The end result of choosing the evidence did not go smoothly, Aqua picked one piece of evidence and by doing so the finger was pointed at Sora and Terra, with the snap of her finger the Keyblade Master and his young apprentice were locked in a cage and the Card Soldiers were ordered to attack Aqua, Goofy, and Donald.

As the three staved off the cards assault the Master and apprentice had time to talk. As Aqua fired off a Triple Firaga at a Two of Hearts card Sora started the conversation. "You know…" At that he looked down sadly and sighed. He didn't know what to say to comfort his Master, after his Master's statement from earlier they hadn't talked. Well how could you when someone just told you that they killed someone close to them.

"I didn't mean to kill Eraqus, you know." Terra spoke ever so softly as he watched Donald cast Cure on Aqua who had been hurt by an unexpected attack. "Master Eraqus was a lot like a father to me, he took me off the streets you know. If it weren't for him I would have been living in the gutters my whole life. I was just a punk who had no family, no friends no one cared about me and I didn't care about anyone." Terra spoke ever so softly that the younger brunette almost believed him to be whispering. Sora listened intently to Terra's story; this was a side he had never seen of his Master. In all of the time he had been Terra' pupil Sora had always thought Terra to have been something above a normal person, he didn't believe that anything could harm Terra. It seemed ever since becoming a bearer of the Key Sora was seeing that Terra wasn't superman, he was just a man.

"Then one day a man found me, not just any man. A Keyblade Master, defender of the light, protectors of the innocent. He saw me, at that time Eraqus didn't even know that I had to potential to become a Keybearer, he just saw a lonely kid, and he took me in as his son." Terra said as he felt his eyes stinging. He wouldn't cry, not here but it was hard to resist. "And then I found out that I might have the potential to be as great as him. So I trained my hardest, and tried with all my will to summon my Keyblade. " Terra spoke in a small whisper in contrast to how Sora usually heard his strong firm voice.

"Then I finally summoned it, I trained for a long time before my MQE, the Master Qualification Exam." Terra turned to look at Sora; out of the corner of his eye he could see that Aqua had casted Magnerga. "I failed it, because of the darkness inside of my own heart." Terra softly said. "I couldn't keep it under wraps if anything sometimes I wonder if I even deserve to be yours and Riku's Master."

"You do!" Sora having enough of his Master talking like this. "I'm proud that you're my Master, I don't think that there's anyone better for the job. For whatever reason as to why you had to kill your Master I'm sure that it's a good one, and I'm sure that if you and this Eraqus were anything like how I and Riku are with you, I'm sure he forgives you." The young Keybearer said with such conviction and determination in his voice.

"Why?" Terra asked. "Why do you say that?"

"Because you're like a second father to me," The young brunette admitted softly. "and I don't think you would ever do anything bad or wrong without a good reason, right?" The smiling brunette asked with a toothy grin.

"You remind me of Ven. Always smiling, always happy, he was good at making Aqua and I smile." Sora listened quietly at this somewhat new subject. In the past ten years Sora had heard Terra say this name, thought all he knew was that Ven was a good friend of his. "That's why I went against my Master to protect him, it's why I raised my Keyblade, and it's the reason as to why I now carry my Master's Keyblade to remind myself of my choice." Terra said looking down at his Keyblade that he had summoned.

* * *

((Been a while since I did one of these XD) Play Bakuchi Dancer by DOES)

"Then that's why you did the right thing, it was to protect your friend, right?" At Sora's words Terra found himself smirking. He felt great, he felt lighter, lighter than he had in years.

'He's right!'

Terra quickly drew his Keyblade and sliced the cage open. Sora had also called upon his Kingdom Key Keyblade mere seconds later. "Let's take them down, Sora!"

"Let's go!" Sora shouted as he and his Master charged the horde of cards.

At lighten speed they sliced through the now on coming cards, and before their first victims had timeto shout Terra and Sora had already begun working their way through the Cards of Soldiers.

Aqua watched in a stunned silence as Sora and Terra went through the horde like crazy. She, Donald, and Goofy were all tired from having to face the countless number of cards, and were all thankful that they could rest. She fell to one knee, exhausted. 'Get 'em, the both of you.' She thought with a small smile as Donald began to heal their injuries.

"Sora!" Terra shouted to his apprentice who was back to back with him. The young teen in question ducked as he saw his Master's on coming Keyblade bash the soldier he hadn't seen coming to his left. Terra gave out a shout as he stabbed at another Card Soldier, reaching out he grabbed its black lance. And blocked an incoming attack with said lance, ducking downward he sliced through the stunned card, while Sora unleashed a quick series of Sonic Blade attacks on his fair share of cards. The two were now slowly moving away from each other as they hacked and slashed through the various cards.

Sora grunted as he parried a Card Soldiers spear. Dropping to the floor he kicked the soldier's feet, the card fluttered to the ground in defeat. Sora seeing three Card Soldiers heading his way gasped as he realized that he would be unable to turn and block in time.

"HAAA!" Terra shouted as his foot collided into the cranium of one of the air born soldiers. 'This will teach you-' His fist slammed another one of the three soldiers face. 'To mess with my student!' He mentally yelled as he sliced and diced through the three soldiers.

Landing on his feet Terra charged towards his incoming apprentice, the two stopped right next to each other and gave out a yell as they sliced at their individual cards that had been chasing each other.

Sora blocked and parried more oncoming strikes with relative ease. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the Ace of Spade card coming at him, He grunted. He quickly sliced at the cards legs, the Card Soldier gave out a shocked gasp of pain. The black card now slowly falling to the floor gave the young teen, Sora a look of fear as the young teen raised his simple looking Keyblade over his head and with a roar gave out a powerful slash.

While Terra ran across the field full of enemies whom he slashed at in random intervals he heard a shout, out of the corner of his eye he saw a spear flying towards him. He ducked with ease, and gave a smirk at the incoming King of Hearts card coming at him. With the playful smirk still intact he blocked and parried the cards swift strikes. 'Enough play time!' He realized as he saw Sora starting to get a little overwhelmed thought his peripheral vision. Backing up a bit he kicked the spear out of the Card of Heart's hands. The King of Hearts gave a look of fear as he saw Terra glare at him. His simple looking Keyblade glowed in a white aura, 'You're Finished!' Terra mentally shouted as he sliced forward ending the Cards short career.

The two Keybearers sled back until their backs lightly collided. "Huff, huff." Sora was breathing pretty heavily. "We can't keep this up, Master." He said a bit solemnly as he kept his Keyblade in a battle-ready hold.

'He's right.' Terra mentally stated to himself. 'But, we can end it.' Terra huffed. "Perhaps, but we're not done yet." Terra said in a voice that clearly stated that he was winded but at the same time confident as he and Sora in perfect synch raised their individual Keyblades and pointed them at the rude queen.

"Queen of Hearts!" The two shouted.

"You have no right to place guilt onto innocents for crimes they haven't committed!" Sora shouted at the mean queen.

"We're going to show you the error of your ways!" The Master and student shouted at the same time.

"You're corrupt deeds end here." Terra finished confidently with a sly smirk.

The queen's face flamed in anger as she watched the two Keybearers glare at her. But before she could announce the traditional "Off with their heads!" A loud sound erupted from where Alice was being held prisoner.

It was then that the fighting was interrupted by a loud noise. Everyone paused and turned back to the cage that housed Alice; upon it opening they saw that the blonde was gone.

* * *

"Obliviously someone kidnapped her during the fight, but who would want to?" Aqua mumbled under her breath as she saw the Card Soldiers line up to receive the orders of their queen.

"You fools!" The group heard the queen shout at her soldiers. "Find the one who is behind this, I don't care how, just do it!" She ordered and the Cards followed through. The group decided that it would be best if they went deeper into the forest, thus to avoid the possibility of having the queen's rage placed upon them.

Upon entering the Lotus Forest they saw one of the overgrown flowers shoot out a giant rock, a second later the Cheshire Cat was sitting on it.

"Have you seen Alice?" Donald questioned.

"Alice, no. Shadows, yes!" The cat replied.

"Where did they go?" Goofy questioned.

"This way? That way? Does it really matter?" The cat asked as he pointed in different directions. "Left, right, up, down! All mixed up thanks to the shadows!" The odd looking cat continued on with his rant. "Step deeper into the forest to the deserted garden. You might find shadows in the upside-down room!" the cat spoke softly as it disappeared.

For them to find this deserted garden it required Sora to turn into a giant, after giving the yellow flower the potion it desired, Sora grew to be a giant or would it be normal sized on the account of the fact that they had already shrunk before. After moving a few things around in the forest Sora turned back to normal. After heading deeper into the forest the group found themselves in a garden, there seemed to have been some sort of party going on at one time perhaps on account of the table and decorations around, at the end of the table was a picture of a man wearing a green hat, and a rabbit wearing red clothes.

To the side of the table they saw a small house, walking in they found that it was much bigger than it appeared to be on the outside. Looking up Sora saw the cat from before. "They're hiding somewhere." The cat said nonchalantly. "Want to find the shadows?" he asked. "Turning on the lights may help you in your search." At that the sly cat disappeared.

* * *

Upon walking a bit further into the room they found themselves surrounded by a horde of Heartless. The group looked around and saw that there was no escape, even though they were a bit winded from fighting the cards from earlier they had no choice but to fight.

"Fire!" Aqua yelled as she casted a mid level fire spell at a Large Body. At this time Sora had started using Sonic Blade on the second Large Body, while Terra used Brutal Blast on a group of Shadow Heartless that had opted to surround the Keyblade Master.

"Thunder!" Donald squawked, at this time Sora had came out of his Sonic Blade combo and also casted Thunder on a group of Heartless. Goofy charged a simple Soldier Heartless that had tried to ambush Donald from behind. All in all the battle was fairly quick and the Heartless threat was dealt with swiftly.

After the Heartless had been dealt Aqua looked up only to gasp in shock. 'That's what he meant by the 'upside-down room.'' The bluenette realized that eyes were upon her, pointing up to answer their silent questions the group saw the room from earlier. They could see the tiny door, as well as many other things.

"It's too dim." A familiar and somewhat annoying voice said Turning they saw the cat as usual he was wearing a shit grin. "Make it brighter." The cat said waving its tail slightly, after a second it disappeared. Sighing Terra told his apprentice to go light one of the lanterns with a simple fire spell. At that time Aqua jumped up to the second and last Lantern, and placed her Keyblade over it.

"Fire…" The blue haired beauty muttered softly. Parallel to her actions Sora copied her, and their lanterns both lit up at the same time.

"Ahh the lights are on. You'll see the shadows soon." The cat assured. "They will arise in this room, but somewhere else. The shadows might go after that doorknob as well." The cat said as he pointed at the doorknob with his tail. After that he was gone for good.

"We need to hurry; my best guess is we need to get to the other side." Terra said as he headed back the way they came. Walking back to the right side of the bizarre room took about a half hour, but they made it. Upon arriving to the room they all felt that something was off, the air seemed more thick and intense. The group slowly proceeded with caution, they looked around the room, knowing that something was there they just didn't know what demon they would be facing this day. The party didn't have to wait long for they felt the ground start to rumble, and they saw a shadow appear near the exit of the room.

A giant Heartless appeared, it was at least as tall as the table was compared to the now tiny group it was gigantic. The Heartless was red and black in color, it had four legs. Two long arms with a stick in each hand. It had sharp blades as its feet, the Trickmaster took a step forward and the group reacted. Sora quickly jumped up to the table, hoping to unleash his magic on the Heartless. Goofy charged the Heartless with Donald at his heels, with a fire spell mid cast.

* * *

During this time Terra had stopped Aqua from charging into the fray, his explanation was that he wanted to see how his apprentice could handle this situation. "Can't keep the training wheels on forever…" He quietly muttered. To the blue haired beauty it made perfect sense why Terra wanted them to refrain from always jumping into battle. Compared to Sora they're much more powerful and had more experience than Sora. He needed to get his own experience, and couldn't rely on Terra forever, he wouldn't be around forever…

"Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!" Sora and Donald yelled as they rapidly casted fire at the huge Heartless. Unable to deal with the barrage the Heartless fell to its knees. Taking this as a time to get as many hits as possible, Goofy used his Tornado attack, while Sora jumped off the table and started handing out a load of combos at the Heartless.

"Fire!" Donald continued with his constant fire attacks, unable to deal with the strain from the three attacking so relentlessly the Heartless slump to the floor. The Trickmaster made an attempt to get to its feet, but just ended up on its back, defeated.

After the Heartless disappeared only to leave behind a giant heart did Terra walk onto the stage where the battle took place. He had to admit that he was a bit impressed with how his pupil had handled this battle. Sora had defeated it quickly and with little damage to their surroundings which can be a good thing if they don't want to be found.

"What a racket!" A familiar voice complained."How's a doorknob to get any shut eye?" The doorknob complained as the group walked over to him. Then he let out a big yawn, it was then that the inside of his mouth let off a small shine.

'The Keyhole…' Terra quietly stated in his mind.

And at that Sora's Keyblade acted accordingly. His Keyblade shot forward and fired off a small thin beam of light towards the Keyhole. After the glow had faded the group looked at each other in a bit of confusion. "What was that?" The duck squawked.

"Hear that?" Sora asked the group. Before anyone could answer he continued. "Sounded like something is close." Then a small Gummi piece fell out of the doorknob's mouth. "It kinda looks like the one we found in the jungle." Sora said as he closely examined the fragment.

"I think we should go back to Traverse Town." Terra said finally speaking up. "I'm sure that there's someone there that might be able to help us." He said referring to how that Traverse Town is more like a refuge place with people from multiple worlds. At that the oddly looking cat reappeared for a final act.

"Very well done if I do say so myself." The cat said as he mocked claps the five. "But you're all missing something." He said as he looked around.

'What are we missing?' Terra thought to himself.

"We forgot about Alice!" Aqua shouted looking around. Then it finally clicked in to the rest of the group that they had forgotten about the blonde.

"She isn't here anymore, taken by the shadows…" The cat said as he slowly disappeared.

The group decided to leave as they heard the sound of the Card Soldiers coming to investigate, they swiftly drank the potion to return to normal size. And quickly they all returned to their ship with the Traverse Town as their destination.

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I'll admit that the end was a bit rushed, I apologize but, this was all I could give, anyway don't expect another update for a little while. Since sadly I haven't been working on the next chapter of this story for a while. (Kinda been busy writing my other story. But I will try to have another chapter as soon as I can.)


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